Negative Chaos
by High Crystal Guardian
Summary: *Sequel to Shadow Turned Light* The Shadow Realm's power is growing too high for the Realm to hold, and now it's magic is overflowing into Yugi's Realm. He tries to stop the magic, but can't...so a few old friends come through from the N. Realm to help...
1. Threatening Shadows

High Crystal Guardian here, and welcome to my brand new fiction! Yes, it's the fic you've all been waiting for (Or...maybe just...a few of you o_O;;) Negative Chaos!

Slash: *grumbles* Finally!

Kaiba: I know...what'd it take, a month and a half to write up the outline she said would only take a week?

Karma: ¬_¬;; Knock it off, you guys. Writing's hard. 

HCG: ^_^ Thank you Karma, the nicest of my three muses! Okay, for those of you who don't know...Karma and Slash are my own original characters, who are part of a different set of fanfiction (which doesn't appear on this site, so far). And you all know who Kaiba is.

Kaiba: YEAH! An unwilling muse!

HCG: -_-;; Shut up, Kaiba. All three are my "muses." Not that they actually do much.

Quick Summary (in case the FF.net summary limit doesn't FIT all of this ^_^;;): The Shadow Realm's power is beginning to grow too high for the Realm alone to sustain, and now a great amount of energy and magic is overflowing into the True Realm with disastrous results. Yugi and his friends try to stop the power before it completely covers the world in death and darkness, but they aren't strong enough. So the Realms' Balance is put into play, and a new gate to the Negative Realm appears, with three old friends coming through to assist against the dangerous Shadow Powers...

Okay, now as for the notes. This story, "Negative Chaos," is the sequel to my earlier fiction, "Shadow Turned Light." It is _absolutely positively vital _that you read "Shadow Turned Light" first, or you aren't going to understand one bit of what happens in _this _fic. Got that clear? If you haven't read STL, go read it now. I command you.

Also (though it doesn't come into this chapter), thanks to WSJ for giving me the use of her Seven Elements. (Thought I'd get that in early. Yeah, so I'm nervous about borrowing writing whatnots and getting in trouble with others' ideas. So sue me. NOT REALLY! O_O;;)

Finally, this'll be starting two weeks before Halloween, as STL started _just _before school ended, and this story takes place about four months or so after. (And to WSJ, if you're reading this, I didn't notice the similarities to the timeframes of YOUR fic, "All Saints Night," until I finished writing this chapter. So please don't get mad that I used something similar; I didn't copy your story or make anything the same on purpose *cringe*)

Karma: Okay! Enough random notes--get on with the story!

HCG: ^_^;; Right! Oh, and disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, sadly enough. Karma and Slash, however, belong to ME, as does this particular plot and story. Ask if you want to use MY ideas--thank you very much. 

Notes: 

/word/ ~ Yugi speaking to Yami via mind link

//word// ~ Yami speaking to Yugi via mind link

I have not the accent in Tea's name, so I'm going to have to stick with writing "Tea" and hope you all know what you're reading.

__

Italicized words are thoughts or memories/dreams

Negative Chaos

Chapter 1: Threatening Shadows

"Kaiba," Yugi said, glancing down at the envelope placed neatly in the center of his desk, "What exactly _is _this?" 

Seto Kaiba, the wealthy CEO of KaibaCorp and genius creator of many top-of-the-line inventions, snorted in disgust as his eyes flickered to the same envelope Yugi Moto was staring at. He sighed before giving his answer. "An invitation." 

Curious, Yugi frowned quickly before asking cheerily, "An invitation to what?" 

Another sigh of exasperation escaped Kaiba's lips as he set his briefcase down at his own desk in the classroom. Snapping the clasps on the sides of the briefcase open, he said with an air of soon to be lost patience, "To a party."

"A party, huh?" Joey Wheeler, Yugi's best friend, cut in with a snicker. "Didn't think you were into that kinda stuff, Kaiba." 

The teen CEO shot Joey an icy glare that silenced the boy within seconds. Quiet achieved, Kaiba turned back to his briefcase, removing several papers and books needed for their first class as he spoke. "I don't, Wheeler. If I had it my way, I'd never have handed out an invitation to _you, _let alone the rest of your pathetic friends." He snapped the briefcase closed and turned to face the two other teens. "In fact, I never planned the thing to begin with. It's Mokuba's idea. He wanted to have a Halloween party at the mansion; apparently, with the full moon on the holiday, the grounds and building will look spooky enough to draw some attention. He's been begging me for weeks now to let him have the party there. I had to give in eventually, or he'd have driven me insane."

Joey chuckled again. "Are you sure you're not doing some of this for your own fun?" 

Kaiba turned to sit down in his seat, saying icily, "_I'll _be attending a meeting at KaibaCorp while the party's going on. So no, Wheeler, I'm not doing this 'for my own fun.' It's purely for Mokuba, which is why I'm allowing you to get lucky enough to step into _my _mansion. He chose the guest list; otherwise, you'd be out of luck." With a sneer, the CEO turned away from the two of them, signifying the conversation over. 

Yugi grinned despite Kaiba's rather rude attitude. "Great! I'll be sure to come, then. Thanks." Joey nodded his agreement before the two of them scurried away to sit down at their desks as the teacher entered, beginning the day's lesson. 

The class dragged on for what seemed an eternity, but soon the period had rolled around to it's end, and second block began. Yugi found it somewhat easier to pay attention in his second class; for one thing, he was further awake than he had been in first period, and for another, the class was history, and ancient cultures to boot. Egypt wasn't their current topic--that wouldn't come until nearly the end of the year--but Yugi found almost any ancient history interesting. Particularly when he had the chance to talk to Yami about the classes, as it seemed to cheer the spirit up when he heard about information from his own time, be it his country or not. 

Second period ended all too quickly, and lunch began without a second's hesitation. Yugi eagerly headed to the cafeteria, looking forward to lunch with his friends. 

And it soon came, as he stepped through the double doors into the noisy, brightly lit room. He waved back eagerly as he spotted his friends, over in a corner table today, when they waved to show him where they were. Grinning, he walked over, taking a seat between Tea and Ryou. 

Conversation began almost instantly, started by Joey. "'Ey, Yugi! What're ya going to wear to the Halloween party?" 

Yugi shrugged, pulling a sandwich from his lunch bag to eat as he spoke. "I'm not sure. I really haven't thought about a costume yet." 

Tristen, Joey's best friend, grinned. "I don't know about you guys, but I've got my costume all set--I just have to buy a few things more. I'm going to have a whole 'camouflage and army' theme going on. The whole setup doesn't look to shabby either." 

Yugi laughed. "It sounds awesome," he said, before biting into his sandwich. He chewed quickly before swallowing and turning to Joey. "How about you?" 

Joey's smile, if possible, widened. "Oh, nothing too difficult, but it'll be a great costume nonetheless. I was thinking along the lines of _Indiana Jones..._I think I'd look pretty cool in that outfit, don't you?" 

"You wish," Tea said, laughing. 

"I will," Joey hissed back, though jokingly.

Tea continued talking. "_I've _got something interesting planned. I'm going as a devil. The costume looks perfect by now, but then again I've been working on it for ages." She grinned at the slightly shocked looks around her before turning to Ryou. "What about you?" 

Ryou shrugged, toying with the food on his tray but not eating it. "I'm not sure if I'm going," he said finally, sighing. 

Joey looked surprised. "What do you mean? Did you get an invitation?"

"Oh, of course," Ryou said, nodding. "But..." he let it hang; they all understood perfectly well, anyway. Ryou possessed a Millennium Item, and with it, a rather abusive yami, Bakura. The spirit enjoyed cutting Ryou off from any social outings, and punished him if the shy boy tried to break the bonds placed on him. 

Yugi frowned and watched his white-haired friend carefully before speaking. "Don't worry, Ryou. Yami'll be there too, and the both of us won't let _your _yami try anything." 

Ryou smiled gratefully, though his eyes still held a rather unhappy look in them. "Thank you, Yugi." 

"So," Tristen said questioningly, "what'll your costume be?"

The boy across from him paused for a moment, thoughtful, before speaking. "I'm not sure yet," he said slowly, "but I think I'll go as some kind of creature of darkness...like a vampire or something." 

Again, stares dominated the table as each one of the friends turned to look at Ryou. He blushed and looked down at his food, picking at it more. 

Joey's voice finally broke over the silence of the table. "Well," he muttered, "our two most unlikely people dress as our two darkest creatures. What a weird twist of fate." Tea grinned mischievously, while Ryou's shoulders only sank an inch. 

Yugi grinned as he glanced around at each of his friends. "It sounds like you guys all have great costumes," he said, smiling. "I'll just have to catch up and decide what I'm going to wear." 

Conversation was cut short as the bell rang, signaling first lunch's end. Tristen and Yugi, both having classes, stood up to leave, while Joey, Tea, and Ryou waved them goodbye and continued with their conversations. 

The rest of the day was a blur for Yugi. His final three classes flew by before he had realized that they had started, and before long, the boy found himself standing at the school's entrance, getting ready to leave. 

He trotted home in an easy-going manner, only temporarily remembering that none of his friends would be joining him today before quickly going back to ideas for his costume. He had come up with a few ideas, but none seemed good enough to compare with his friends'. 

He was so preoccupied, he hardly noticed as his yami contacted him in their mind link. //Yugi? Are you listening to me?//

/Oh, Yami! Sorry,/ the young Hikari apologized quickly, banishing his costume thoughts from his mind. /I was a bit distracted./

//I noticed,// the ancient spirit replied, but he sounded calm, not angry. //What were you thinking about, anyway?//

/Oh, that's right. In a few weeks it'll be Halloween, and I'm trying to pick a costume out to wear./

//A costume? Why would you have need of a costume?//

Yugi laughed mentally. /Because it's Halloween! That's what you do on Halloween, Yami--dress up in costumes and party./

//I see,// came the ancient Pharaoh's reply. His tone contradicted his words, however; plainly, he saw no real reason to be dressing up at all.

Yugi chuckled, out loud this time, before sinking back into his conversation with Yami. /Only problem is,/ he said slowly, /I don't have a costume that can compete with all the ones that the rest of my friends have. I'm trying to come up with an idea, but I'm not having much luck./

//Really, Aibou?// Now his mental voice sounded interested. //You don't have an idea yet?//

Confused, Yugi replied quickly. /No, why?/

This time it was his yami that chuckled. //If that is the case, Yugi, may I take over your costume problem? I think I have an idea that you will enjoy immensely.//

The young Hikari's mental voice rose considerably. /Really?! What is it?/

//Ah, now _that, _Aibou, will be my little surprise. Just give me some time to organize everything, and I guarantee you'll have a most interesting costume for this party of yours.//

Yugi grinned. /Deal!/

*****

Nearly two weeks went by, all too quickly by Yugi's standards. School passed by easily for him, and before he knew it he would find himself at home, another day closer to Halloween and the coming party. 

The party, he soon found, was the talk of the school. Despite the fact that Mokuba was the one _throwing _the party, it seemed nearly half the high school had been invited, as well as the majority of the black-haired boy's own middle school friends. Rumors were flying thick; how the party food was supposed to be superb, how the DJ hired was one of the highly recommended people in that line of business, how the mansion was being set up to look terrifying enough to frighten Edgar Allen Poe. Kaiba was hard pressed to escape the hordes of students following him around, begging for information on the party, or sometimes an invitation if they were unlucky enough to have not made it onto the guest list. 

Yami would often borrow control of Yugi's body so as to work on the costume he had promised his aibou, but as he wanted it to be a surprise, Yugi often found himself sitting in his soul room for hours at a time, blocked so as unable to see or hear anything. Though he was satisfied to know that his darker half was working on the costume, he found it irritating to not know what it _was. _Each time he asked the spirit, he was confronted with a laugh and a promise of, "You'll find out soon enough, Aibou." 

After another such promise greeted him two days before the party, Yugi wearily flopped down into bed, finally having re-gained control of his body and discovering it fatigued. Yami had been out for some time, getting supplies for the costume and adding onto it, and most of the exhaustion had been passed on to his body. 

_Lucky I finished all my homework in study period today, _he thought to himself, yawning. _I wouldn't have had time to finish it had I started now. _He glanced out his window, which was dark and patched with glittering stars and a nearly-full moon. He sighed quietly, rolled over, and slowly closed his eyes, drifting off into a deep sleep within a matter of minutes. 

*****

__

The shadows rolled around him slowly, endlessly, as he floated in the black void that existed everywhere and nowhere at once. He blinked, startled, as his feet touched ground that had not been there a moment before. It was both solid and clear, made of shadows, and yet made of every existing color at the same time. 

Slowly, the boy--Yugi--began to realize what he was doing there. He had been here before, nearly four months ago, when his last adventure had taken place. The Shadow Realm had summoned him when he was chosen to complete the Realms Balance, to fix the problems in a Realm not his own. 

My first summoning was a warning, _the boy thought to himself slowly. _Is that what this is? Another warning? 

_"No, it is not."_

Startled, Yugi whirled around, spinning to face where he had thought the voice had come from. And yet...nothing was there. He turned again, thinking that perhaps he had been mistaken...and still nothing presented itself to him. 

"Do not try to find me by sight. I have no visible form for you to see."

Yugi gasped in surprise. That voice again! But...he remembered where it came from now. He had heard it before...

"I see you recognize me, Worthy Light. It pleases me to see this of you."

The boy swallowed slowly at the incredible sound of that voice--so large, so terrifying--yet he chanced to speak. "What am I doing here? Is there a problem in the Negative Realm again?"

"As I said before, there is not, Worthy Light." 

"Why are you calling me that?"

"It is your title. You have earned it for performing your duties without fear or hesitation. You are a Worthy one."

Yugi hesitated momentarily before asking his next question. "If there's no problems in the Negative Realm...than what am I doing here?"

"You must answer that question yourself, Worthy Light. For it was you, not I, that called us here."

Yugi blinked in surprise. "But...but I don't know! I wasn't even expecting to come here..." he sighed, shaking his head. 

"Perhaps your conscious mind did not expect it, but it was your sub-conscious that called me. Do you know what you feel there?"

The boy paused before shaking his head. "No...I'm sorry, but I don't."

The voice continued, powerful-sounding and from all directions at once. "You fear for your friends in the Negative Realm. You are worried about their survival, about how they are doing since you left them."

"I...I am?" Now that he thought about it, he had _been thinking such thoughts over the past few days. _

"You are indeed. But you need not worry any more, Worthy Light. I am here to help you see beyond the bonds of your mortal eyes."

"What?" The question was quick, but the odd voice was quicker still. By the time the word had finished leaving his mouth, he seemed to be floating in a room that simply appeared around him. 

"Where are we?" He asked slowly, swallowing again.

"We are Viewing your Negative Realm," the voice said easily, almost lazily. "Watch."

As he glanced around the room, which appeared to be a lounge, he noticed both Ryou and his yami, Bakura, resting easily on a pair of couches. Instead of Ryou cowering away from his fearful-looking yami, however, both were laughing and chatting easily. Yugi recognized them instantly as their Negative Realm versions from their ways of acting; in that opposite Realm, Bakura had always been as protective of his aibou as Yami was of himself. 

A question arose in his head suddenly, when Ryou's head began to turn towards him the tiniest bit. "Can they see us?"

"They cannot, Worthy Light. This is only a Viewing; though we are in their Realm, it is only in spirit, not body."

"Oh..." Yugi muttered faintly, as he watched Bakura chuckle at a joke Ryou had just finished delivering. "Well, at least Ryou seems fully healed again." The boy had been through an unfortunate accident while Yugi was in their Realm, and the young Hikari had only just been able to save his white-haired friend's life.

"He is, and yet he isn't. The memories will still haunt him at times." 

Yugi shuddered this time; he had seen all of Ryou's memories, and even he still had nightmares about them. 

Before he had time to speak again, the scenery changed around them. Within a few moments they were in what looked like a bedroom. On glancing around, Yugi spotted Joey sitting on his bed, staring at a handful of cards laid out in front of him with intense interest. They were Duel Monsters cards, Yugi noticed easily, as Joey flipped another card from his deck and placed it down beside the others. So he was perfecting a strategy...

"He is perhaps the only one that has not changed much since you left," the voice said slowly. "Other than a new growth of fierce determination, he has been left untouched by your visitation."

The walls melted away again, re-forming into a second bedroom, though slightly larger than the first. There was a table set up in the middle of the room, at which a lone figure was sitting, bent over a bundle of papers and machine parts. It was recognizable as Seto Kaiba, fiddling with a new invention of some sort as he screwed the metal plates in front of him together with ease.

"We are most worried about him," the voice said carefully. "His beliefs should have been healed after you came to his world, yet he continues to grieve. If something is not done about it soon, he will begin to fall apart at his own hands." What almost sounded like a sigh resounded around the room, though only Yugi could hear it. "But alas. We still have one final person that you wish to check up on, Worthy Light."

Yugi blinked, confused. "Who? I can't think of another that I--"

His voice was cut short as the room changed again, forming what looked like a bedroom and a jail cell mixed together. It gave Yugi a slight chill down his back, though he tried his best to ignore it. 

His eyes swept the room carefully, searching for signs of life. He found it in the corner, sitting cross-legged and staring exactly where he was standing evenly, with an un-breaking gaze. His Yami--but in a different Realm.

He shuddered as his eyes met Yami's own crimson orbs. He still had nightmares about the Negative Realm Pharaoh, as well...for Yami had killed him in this Realm, and nearly destroyed the world under his Shadow Madness. It hadn't been his fault, but still...he had tried to kill Yugi a second time, and had only just _failed. Yugi had managed to save him from the Shadow Madness, but had not been able to see the effects of his magic on his Negative yami. _

The Pharaoh spoke out loud, evenly and with a terrifyingly calm voice. "I can tell you're back. Why don't you show yourself for once?"

Yugi blinked in surprise. "He knows we're here?!"

The voice responded easily. "Calm yourself, Worthy Light. He can sense me, for when you broke him from the Shadow's control, his mind was altered to sense us--after all, he was the cause for the lost balance in his Realm, and when the Balance was fixed, the cause could tell we were there. We have visited him often...he can tell when we enter, and when we leave. No others here can."

Yami continued to speak. "Show yourself. I grow tired of feeling you here, but not seeing you." 

The voice spoke again. "He, too, worries us. He has been healed, of course, yet his mind still remains partly broken from the effects of the Shadow Madness. Not even I can predict his outcome for sure..." a slight tone of worry presented itself in the voice, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. "Come, now. We shall leave."

Yami faded away with the rest of the room, and within seconds Yugi found himself standing in the shadowy void once more. He glanced around quickly, almost instinctively, but still saw nothing.

"Thanks to you, Worthy Light, the Balance has been fully restored in the Negative Realm," the voice said, it's loud, powerful tone echoing around him eerily. "The people there begin to adjust to their Realm, though most do so unknowingly. But the Balance is not safe in all Realms; in some, it is ready to collapse without the proper aid." 

"Really?" Yugi asked, genuine worry growing in his voice. "Enough for the Realms Balance again?"

"Perhaps," the voice said, almost evasively. "In any case, I have been kept busy for some time. It is only for the Worthy ones that I would grant a Dream favor at this time."

"Oh..." Yugi muttered to himself, slightly confused. "Well then...thank you..."

"You have nothing to thank me for, Worthy Light." The voice sounded almost pleased. "I shall let you return to your slumber again. But remember," it said, and it's tone seemed to gain more power, more authority. "The Balance is becoming unstable for you once again, Worthy Light. Be very careful."

Yugi nodded, still confused. He watched as the shadowy nothingness around him faded away and retreated into non-existence. Then a feather-light feeling within his mind seized him, and he fell softly into an undisturbed sleep, the warning still ringing in his ears.

*****

That night and the day after passed by as quickly as the rest of the week had gone, and in what only seemed like seconds, the day of Halloween had arrived. Yugi eagerly zipped through his classes, anticipating the party to take place that night along with nearly half the school. He wasn't normally so social, but today seemed different...today somehow _felt _like a day when things happened. 

At last the bell rang, and Yugi quickly slipped out of class and down the hallways of the school, walking quickly but still only moving as far as the average teen's single step. For once he didn't mind about his shorter stature, for he was deeply engrossed in a conversation with his darker half. 

/What _is _it, Yami?/

//I told you, Aibou. You'll find out when the time comes, and not a moment sooner.//

/You're driving me crazy!/

A chuckle resounded through the boy's mind. //I never mean to, and you know it.// Yugi could practically feel the grin that his Yami would have had plastered on his face had he been in a physical form as the spirit finished speaking. //But I think you're going to love it.//

/Arrrrgh!/

Even as he was grumbling good-naturedly, Yugi heard a shout behind him and turned. Joey, Tristen, and Tea were all there, each running up to him to follow him home.

"Hey, guys!" Yugi greeted them cheerfully. "What's up?"

"Hey, Yug'," Joey replied easily, grinning. "We figured we'd hang out with you for a couple of hours, then head home, pick up our costumes, and meet you at the party."

"Sounds great," the young hikari answered, turning and re-adjusting his backpack on his shoulders before heading out into the courtyard. He looked around at his friends before frowning slightly. "Where's Ryou?"

"He said he had a few chores to take care of first," Tea said quietly, walking beside Yugi. "He promised to meet us at the party, though." 

"Great!"

The foursome headed for Yugi's family game shop, as they often did when none of them had plans for the day. On reaching the Shop, they went through their various usual activities--that is, Joey bartering for cards from Yugi's Grandpa, followed by several card Duels, which in turn was followed up by simple chatting or fooling around. 

After a few hours, Tristen rose to leave, saying he was expected home before he could head off for the party. Tea followed soon after, saying much the same, and Joey was not far behind, though he said goodbye cheerily. 

After seeing his friends out the door, Yugi walked over to the window and stared out into the streets, the glowing streetlights obscuring his vision of the slowly-appearing stars. Nevertheless, he grinned eagerly, knowing that in only a few hours' time it would be completely dark and the party would begin. 

Still smiling, he turned and walked into his kitchen, grabbing a quick bite to eat before heading up to his room. He finished off some of his homework--most of it geometry and algebra, which he had some trouble with. He was surprised to learn that Yami of all people knew of the Pythagorean Theorem quite well and was able to give his aibou some aid in that particular area; apparently, the same equation was used to build the pyramids long ago. 

After another hour or two, he finally checked his watch and discovered that the famous party would begin in little more than a half hour. He chuckled as Yami quickly asked to take temporary control of his charge's body, to which Yugi agreeably obliged with ease. He found himself locked in his soul room, but not for long--it had hardly been ten minutes before the Pharaoh allowed him to return to possession of his body. 

Yugi blinked as he found himself standing in front of a mirror and staring at it--and then gasped in surprise, as he found himself gazing at what he was wearing. 

Yami was right, he _did _like the costume, and quite a bit. It had an Egyptian look to it, for starters; a crimson-violet robe without sleeves that covered his torso down to the waist, and an almost skirt-like bottom half to the outfit, though of course it was obviously the sweeping bottoms of his robes. A golden cord wrapped around his waist, like a belt, and around his neck, yet on his robes, were golden fringes--almost like a very valuable, wide collar. Around his upper arms he wore two golden, shining bands, and his wrists bore similar manacles, while his Millennium Puzzle fit in easily with the rest of the costume, resting lightly on his chest while hanging from it's chain. At least four golden rings, simple yet at the same time fascinating, rested lightly on his outer fingers. Yet the most striking part of the costume was the thick golden band wrapped around his forehead, adorned with the Eye of Horus on it's front, which pushed his bangs up to overflow and spill over the edges of the gold and part in front of his face. It gave him an almost regal look, stunningly haunting, but at the same time quite an interesting effect. 

"Wow, Yami!" Yugi yelped out loud. "This looks amazing!"

//I told you you'd like it,// the spirit said smugly from within his soul chamber, though he was evidently pleased with how satisfied his hikari sounded. 

"Like it? I _love _it! This costume'll knock all the others flat!" Yugi beamed, almost triumphantly, before starting up the conversation again. "How'd you make it so quickly?"

There was a bright glow from the Millennium Puzzle around his neck, and within a few seconds Yami stood in a slightly transparent form beside him. If anything, he seemed to intensify the effect of the costume; when Yugi looked at him, he seemed almost instantly to think of him as the one in charge. It was hard _not _to think of him that way, the hikari realized.

"To tell the truth, I was not the only one to work on the costume," Yami explained, his voice now solid and loud as he took a visible form. "I had some help from Isis, as well. You see, those robes are modeled off of one of my own pharaoh's robes, from my time as a ruler. I couldn't remember the details, so Isis took me back to see myself at that time. She then aided me when I made the costume itself." He grinned. "You like it, I presume? It fits you well." 

Yugi grinned. "It fits you even better," he said, chuckling, as he stared up at his yami again. 

"Well, these _are _my robes, technically," he said calmly, before grinning. "And there may be another at this party of yours tonight, wearing Egyptian robes much the same..."

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked, now curious.

Yami chuckled evenly. "Isis insisted that I help her create a second costume, which she sent to a particular person in hopes that they will own them once more...if only for one night." 

"Who?"

"Ah, that I cannot say, Yugi. Isis asked me to say nothing until the person chose to wear the outfit himself."

Yugi sighed and shook his head. There was no use trying to get his Yami to talk now; if the spirit wanted to keep a secret, he would, and there was no breaking it out of him. 

"Well, I guess I'm gonna head off, then," the hikari murmured, changing the subject. Yami nodded and retreated to his soul room, fading out of his visible form in an almost spooky fashion. 

_At least he's living up to the holiday, _Yugi thought to himself, as he pulled his coat carefully over the golden bands on his arms and stepped out the door. 

It was a surprisingly warm night outside, so the young hikari didn't mind walking to the Kaiba mansion at all. It wasn't too far away, he thought to himself, and the exercise would do him good.

Nearly twenty minutes later, he had finally succeeded in reaching the Kaiba mansion. He mentally agreed with Mokuba as he gazed upwards at the mansion, resting slightly on a small hill--it _did _look as if it could be haunted, with the full moon looking as if it was resting _just _on top of the house, and the fog swimming around the building from the dry ice apparently being used. 

Walking quickly, he stepped up to the mansion and rang the doorbell, which sounded in a gong-like chime as it echoed around the rooms within. Faintly, he thought he could hear some fast-paced musical beat coming from within; so other guests had arrived already. 

The door was opened by a very harassed-looking butler, who frowned in dismay as Yugi blinked up at him cheerfully. The man sighed, backed up a pace, and allowed the boy to enter, muttering faintly under his breath about "those no-good party kids." He nodded slightly to the right, and Yugi headed through a wide, arched doorway.

The music got steadily louder as he walked, and eventually he stepped into a room playing the tones full-blast. The room was awash with color and lights, sounds and movement. A large crowd had gathered in the center of the room to dance in front of a table, which, Yugi noticed after a moment, held a DJ who was tapping his head to the beat of the song. Those not currently dancing were sitting on seats along the walls, or perhaps lurking near the small second table that held drinks. 

Yugi scanned the area quickly, and easily picked out his friends, sitting along one of the walls and waiting patiently. He walked over to them quickly, grinning as he saw each of their surprised faces at his appearance. 

"Wow, Yug', nice costume!" Joey said, staring at the gold that was catching the glittering lights and reflecting them back at a few of the nearby dancers. 

"Yours isn't so bad yourself, Joey," Yugi said, smiling, as he looked Joey over once again. The boy had a dark tee-shirt on with a heavy brown leather jacket over it. His pants also looked of a heavy material, and again shared the same color as his jacket. Brown boots, worn-looking but certainly for action, not dress, adorned his feet, while a brown, wide-brimmed hat sat on a jaunty angle on the blonde-haired boy's head. To top off the costume, a whip, fake but very realistic looking, sat coiled and resting on his hip. 

"Ya think? I dunno, just wait until you see Ryou's costume," Joey said, biting his lip. "He went to go get a few drinks for us all...but he really went all out."

"Yeah," Tristen piped up from the side. His costume looked very similar to his favorite Duel Monsters card; dark blue camouflage pants and dark boots, with hordes of ammo, again fake, strapped across his chest. In addition, he wore a dark colored vest, also with the camouflage pattern. "You wouldn't think he was the same person if you didn't know him better."

Yugi raised an eyebrow in confusion before turning to look at Tea. Her costume looked quite interesting as well. She wore a tight, sparkling, sequined red halter-top over a black mini-skirt. Long, calf-high black boots boosted her up an extra inch in height, and a pair of plastic-looking horns set on a headband rested atop her head. To complete her costume, a long, glittering red devil tail curled from behind her to around her hip, resting at an easy angle with it's pointed tail end facing outwards. 

"Hey, nice costume, Tea," he said, grinning.

She smiled back, looking pleased. "Thanks. Like I said before, I've been working on it for a while."

Joey broke in abruptly. "'Ey, here's Ryou with our drinks. Take a look at his outfit!" 

Yugi turned obediently and found his eyes widening at the sight of Ryou's costume. He wore a tight black jacket over a white collared shirt. The jacket seemed to shine in the light, and would have been mistaken for leather, but it was far too flexible for that, and too smooth. It was high-collared and came nearly up to the joints in Ryou's jaws, but flared out and contrasted sharply with the cascades of white hair falling all around the black material. The coat lacked sleeves, but the rest of it seemed to cling to his torso, hiding the white shirt underneath. His pants seemed to be made of the same mysterious material, but instead of clinging, as the jacket did, it flowed easily and looked quite comfortable--though still tight, an odd illusion. Black boots produced from the bottom of the odd pants. On his upper arm, near the shoulder, a doodle of a black rose--the symbol of a vampire--stood out clearly like a tattoo, drawn in pencils made for skin. To top off the outfit, a long, ankle-length cape drifted down from where it was fastened around his neck; it was made of leather, the outer side a dark black while the inner color was blood-red. 

"Wow, Ryou!" Yugi said, genuinely surprised. "What an awesome costume!"

Ryou blushed visibly as he passed a few sodas to the others. "Thanks...it's based off a character I read in a book somewhere, a vampire." He handed an extra drink to Yugi, explaining that he had seen the boy come in while at the drinks table. 

The group sipped at their various sodas, watching the dancers in their wide variety of costumes and commenting on a few of the more detailed ones. Tea eventually slipped off to join the dancers, though she would return every few songs to rest and chat with her friends. 

About ten minutes after Yugi had arrived, he was confronted with a boy about his own height, with long, unruly black hair and a cheery smile. "Hey, Mokuba," he greeted the boy easily, grinning. "What's up?"

Mokuba shrugged and looked around the room, which was now shaking slightly due to the fast-paced dance song now being played. "Nothing much. Having fun? They all seem to be." He pointed towards the mass of dancers, chuckling to himself slightly. 

Joey nodded in response. "Yeah, it's a great party!" he laughed, finding himself swaying slightly to the beat of the music. "I don't know how you arranged it so quick, but this is _awesome._"

Mokuba grinned at the compliment, surveying the room once more. "Yeah, well Seto helped me out a bit. It kinda surprised me; he doesn't like parties much." He frowned slightly. "He's at a meeting right now...I tried to convince him to have a little bit of fun, but he wouldn't hear of it. Said he was busy, but I know better...he just doesn't want to be here." He sighed before returning to his ever-present grin. "Hey, are you guys gonna enter the costume contest?"

Yugi was reminded of the costumes present all around him, and suddenly turned back to Mokuba to observe the boy's own outfit. He was dressed to look much like a pirate, he noticed; his clothes were tattered, he wore a patch over one eye, and he had a sabre thrust through his belt that, though fake, looked hauntingly real as the lights glimmered off it's edge. 

"What costume contest?" Tristen broke in, responding to Mokuba's question.

The black-haired boy grinned and said easily, "There's going to be a judging later on tonight that'll pick out the top three costumes here at the party. You'll get this really sweet prize if you win the contest." He looked around at the five facing him and added, "You've already got a few good winning costumes right here." This said, the boy turned and waded through the crowd of dancers, stopping periodically to chat with one or two of the people that he met. 

"Wow," Joey said slowly, looking around the room. "A costume judging? And if Mokuba says it's a great prize, I wouldn't doubt him...hell, I wouldn't doubt a kid with a millionaire brother, period." He mimicked Mokuba's glances around his friends before saying loudly, "I'll bet Yugi or Ryou wins."

Ryou blushed again, sitting back farther into his chair, while Yugi smiled slightly and turned to watch the dancers once more.

Another hour passed without trouble; each of the five got up periodically to dance, sometimes with the whole group going up to dance at the same time. Several friends from school would compliment Yugi and his friends on their costumes--indeed, a few of the girls in his class gave Ryou rather interested looks--and most would urge them to join the judgment contest later. 

However, after the first hour had passed, the party was momentarily disturbed as the large door in the entrance hall slammed open, admitting a rather angry-looking Seto Kaiba. His face was hardened in an expression of distaste, while his movements implied that he wasn't having the best of moments, and any who got in his way would be instantly plowed over and left to lay there without help. 

Mokuba instantly scurried over to meet his brother, his face an expression of pleasant surprise. "Brother! What're you doing home right now? I thought your meeting was supposed to go until later!"

"Was," Kaiba snapped irritably. "It was postponed for God knows what reason. I'm going up to my study to work...have fun at your party, Mokuba." This said, the CEO nearly stomped over to the stairs in the far corner of the party room, parting annoyed dancers in front of him in waves as they darted to get out of the way of his quickly boiling down temper. 

Mokuba was not a boy to give in to his older brother so easily, however. He quickly darted after the angry CEO, following him up the stairs and attempting to talk to him. From Yugi's point of view, it didn't look as though the black-haired boy was getting through to his brother. He had to give him credit for effort, however, as the two disappeared around the corner in the hall at the top of the stairs. 

Yugi sighed and returned to his chair, sipping quietly at his second soda as he thought to himself. He had hardly ventured far into his mind, however, when Mokuba had appeared in front of him once more, looking a bit annoyed and frowning slightly.

"What's wrong, Mokuba?" the young Hikari asked, catching onto the boy's worry. 

"Oh, nothing much," the younger of the two replied, though his tone betrayed his words. "Nothing life threatening, anyway." This was said truthfully enough. "It's just that...well, Seto's gone and locked himself in his study _again. _He won't even let me in. He says that he doesn't want to listen to the noise from the party, and that he's trying to work, but I don't believe him. He's just avoiding the party again."

Yugi shrugged. "He doesn't have to like parties, you know."

Mokuba shook his head. "Seto's not even getting into the _holiday!_" The boy murmured slowly, sounding on the verge of horror. "He won't even put on his costume! And he didn't even buy one, originally; somebody sent it anonymously. It looks really cool, though, all these purple robes and stuff. Sorta Egyptian-looking if you think about it." He gave Yugi a quick glance, no doubt surveying the costume once again. 

"Really?" Yugi asked, sounding appropriately surprised, although he gave himself a mental note to yell at his yami later. "That's odd. But it sure sounds cool."

Mokuba nodded, apparently relieved that Yugi was agreeing with him. "It is cool." He suddenly stood just a bit taller, a resolved look coming onto his face. "You know what? I'm gonna get him into the holiday spirit. I'll make him have some fun here, I promise. You can take my word on that, Yugi." Satisfied with his words, the boy turned and scurried off towards the stairs once more.

Yugi chuckled slightly at the serious tone that had filled Mokuba's voice before turning his attention to his yami. He carefully opened up the mind link, trying not to gain the zoned-out look he usually received when talking to his darker half. 

/Yami?/ he thought slowly.

//Yes, Yugi? Is something wrong?// The voice carried a tone that dripped with false innocence, but Yugi knew better.

/Yeah, there might be just _one _tiny thing wrong,/ the Hikari hissed. /You sent Kaiba a model of his Egyptian Priest robes?!/

Yami tried to keep his mental voice serious, but there was no mistaking the chuckle that could not be surpressed coming from the spirit. //Yes...Isis had the idea, actually, and I went along with it, helping her out.//

/But why?/ Yugi's thought voice was full of confusion, but the annoyance and slight anger was still there. /You guys are rivals!/

//True...but nobody should ignore their ancient heritage,// Yami muttered easily, his tone full of justice.

/Yeah,/ his charge spat back sarcastically. /And you knew it would annoy him!/

//Well, that was an added bonus, but it was not my original intent--//

The Hikari's conversation was cut off abruptly as Mokuba appeared in front of him for a third time, grinning broadly. "Guess what, Yugi? It took some time, but I got Seto to agree to put on his costume. He looks really awesome in it." He winked, his dark bangs swinging in front of his eyes. "I know how to get him out, now. I'll be right back!"

Before Yugi could ask what was on the boy's mind, the younger of the two had darted off eagerly. Sighing, the hikari sat back in his seat and waited patiently for what he was sure would be a rather explosive entrance on Seto's part--and probably not of the CEO's free will, either. 

His predictions were correct, as only a few minutes later a loud yell of anger was heard over even the crashing rhythm of the music. Within seconds, Mokuba came darting around the corner of the upper hallways and half-running, half-sliding down the stairs, what looked like a small black briefcase tucked under his arm. As he reached the dance floor, Yugi recognized it as a laptop. He groaned as he realized _exactly _what Mokuba had had in store for his older brother. 

Not too far behind Mokuba came Seto Kaiba, tearing around the upper hallway's corner so fast he should have crashed into a nearby wall. He was no longer wearing his long, flowing trenchcoat, but robes that definitely had an Egyptian model. Violet and white, the robes--more like a cloak--draped down his back and fluttered in the breeze created as he ran, fastened to a collar similar to Yugi's, though smaller, and colored in dark purple and gold. His chest was bare, but around his waist was a skirt-like garment, again colored in the dominant violet, white, and gold colors. Golden bands wrapped his upper arms and wrists, much like Yugi's, and around his neck he wore a pendant shaped like a cross with a rounded top. On his head a rounded golden-and-violet patterned headdress sat, and in his hands was clutched a long, golden staff with a swirled, mysterious-looking tip. His anger only intensified the mood given with the outfit, making him look powerful and dangerous. 

He darted down the stairs after his brother, yelling angrily, though none of his words could be made out into clear sentences. This time, the dancing crowd parted before he had even reached the bottom of the stairs, anxious to be out of the way of the enraged CEO. 

Mokuba looked over his shoulder, yelped in surprise at how close his brother was, and darted over to where Yugi sat, still clutching the laptop. He sat quickly in the vacant seat next to the hikari and tried to look innocent as his brother approached. 

Kaiba growled threateningly as he reached the seats, looking at his brother in annoyance. "Mokuba," he hissed warningly, "give me back my computer. Now."

"Aw, com'mon, Seto," the darker-haired boy muttered. "I only wanted you to have a bit of fun." 

"And you expect me to have it _this _way?" Kaiba asked dryly, waving his hand around and indicating the party. "Having all these people staring at me as if I'm a freak? Interrupting my work?"

"They're all in costumes too, Seto," Mokuba murmured, but he obediently handed over the folded-up laptop to his older brother.

"Thank you," the CEO said calmly, though he looked as if he was hard-pressed to keep from yelling at the top of his lungs. "Now, no more disruptions please, all right, Mokuba?" His brother nodded sullenly, and he turned to leave, walking towards the dancers that were already beginning to part so that he could pass through. 

Abruptly, however, he halted, staring in confusion at the large French doors on one side of the room. He turned and walked in the direction of the glass doors, through which could be seen a large, maze-like garden. Disregarding all the stares he was now receiving, he gently placed the laptop on a vacant chair and slid the doors open, stepping through into the warm night air. 

Yugi suddenly had an odd sense of foreboding, and he shivered without meaning to. Noticing that Kaiba had stepped outside, he quickly headed over to the French doors, following the company-owning teen out into the darkness of the vast garden.

Almost as soon as he had stepped through the doors, Yugi felt Yami start in surprise. Another wave of foreboding flooded him, but he hastily shoved it aside and contacted his yami with their shared mind link. 

/What's wrong?/

Had Yami had a physical body at that moment, he would have been shuddering. //Shadow Powers. Somebody or something is going into or out of the Shadow Realm.//

/What?!/

"So, you followed me?" Kaiba asked dryly, cutting Yugi's talk with his Yami neatly in half. The teen continued, unaware of the conversation he had broken up. "It doesn't matter, really. I thought I saw an intruder out here, but it's probably just a few party-goers." He snorted with disgust before turning as if to head back in.

"Hold on, Kaiba," Yugi hissed quickly. "I think there _is _an intruder here."

Seto raised an eyebrow, looking suspicious. "How would you be able to determine that?"

"Just...trust me," Yugi muttered lamely, unable to come up with a better excuse. He had a reason, at least; Yami was trying to give him instructions at the same time.

//We'll have to split up and look for the source of the Shadow Powers. If a gate to the Shadow Realm is left open, there'll be more trouble than one could guess at.//

/Right...here, I'll go search one half of the garden, and you look through the other half./

Yugi stepped forward slowly, heading off down one of the many paths slipping through the various plants and flowers. "I think your intruder is this way," he said quickly. Kaiba, still suspicious but curious at the same time, followed. Yami, meanwhile, quietly separated from his hikari and formed a temporary physical body for himself, so that traveling would be easier. Yugi saw him slide away into the darkness, going in the opposite direction as himself.

The two mortals quickly trotted down the winding path, searching the surrounding area for signs of an intruder--or in Yugi's case, evidence of Shadow magic. They hadn't found anything after several minutes of searching, discouraging the young Hikari to no end. His evidence came rather suddenly, however, as he turned a corner within the garden and found himself facing...a hole in the air.

For one instant, he thought he was facing a Negative Realm gate, but he quickly banished the thought from his head. This gate was far too different; it was a deep, shadowy black instead of bright silver, and darkness seemed to seep around the hole, as if absorbed into it. 

Another sense of dread swept over Yugi's mind in a wave, and behind him Kaiba gasped in surprise. The hole--a gate to the Shadow Realm, Yugi guessed--was nothing, however, compared to what was happening to it. 

From deep within the hole, a low growling was being emitted. The growl grew into a snarl, and then abruptly deepened in tone as _something _began to claw it's way out of the darkness bored into the air. A long, razor-sharp set of claws, attached to one mighty paw, swept out of the Realm gate with such speed that Yugi jumped in surprise. The paw became attached to one long, lean, muscular limb, which in turn found a body to connect to. A second limb clawed it's way out, followed by a snapping, snarling head of an animal, looking very much like that of a canine's. Now halfway out, the creature howled in a hauntingly beautiful way and tore at the air it was caught in, ripping it's way out and falling completely free to the ground on all four of it's strong, large paws. Now it could be clearly seen; it was a gigantic wolf, with silvery fur, a long, bushy tail, and a head with dangerous jaws and sharp teeth. A Duel Monster--and if Yugi was not much mistaken, one of his own cards, Silver Fang.

"This cannot be good," Kaiba muttered grimly from his place behind Yugi. 

"No, it definitely isn't," the Hikari agreed, backing up a pace. 

The wolf growled and snapped it's strong jaws in their direction, it's fur rising until the animal looked at least twice it's normal size. Abruptly, it snarled and leaped forward, it's front paws outstretched, claws bared, towards Yugi. 

The boy let out a yelp and dived to the side, and the wolf landed behind him by inches, whirling to face it's escaped prey with another low growl.

/_Yami_!/ Yugi screamed mentally inside his head. /_Yami, where are you?!_/

//Yugi, what's the matter?!// The ancient spirit's mental voice sounded distinctly worried. 

/We found the Shadow Power source...it's a gate to the Shadow Realm. But, Yami, there's a Silver Fang that came out, and it's attacking me and Kaiba!/ Yugi halted his conversation momentarily as he dived into a row of flowers to avoid having his head snapped in two by the jaws of the angry Duel Monster.

//What?!// The pharaoh sounded momentarily confused before jumping into action. //Hold on, Aibou, I'll take over possession of your body and banish it.//

Yugi nodded, despite the fact that his darker half couldn't see the action, and waited impatiently for the familiar feeling of his mind being gently brushed aside from it's commanding duties of his body. 

It didn't come.

/What's wrong, Yami?/ he hissed, his nervousness making his mental voice sound harsher than it was meant to be.

//I don't know! I can't return to the Puzzle...the Shadow Realm's not permitting it, for some reason!//

/Oh, great. That can't be good./ Yugi halted again as he scrabbled aside to avoid the claws of the wolf, but he knew he couldn't evade the creature for much longer.

//Never mind, Aibou, I'll just have to get to you by foot.// The spirit sounded nervous as well; apparently he didn't like his charge being in danger, and him unable to do a thing. 

/Right! Hurry!/

He broke off his mind link and gazed around at his surroundings once more. The Silver Fang had darted after Kaiba, now, who was trying to evade it once more. Yugi shouted, attempting to yell advice to the CEO so that he could escape the wolf's wrath, but he only succeeded in drawing it's attention to himself. It turned, and with liquid grace paced towards him. It's toothy jaws seemed to be nearly grinning at him, a sight that was far from pleasant. 

"Oh, no..." the hikari muttered, crab-walking backwards in the hopes of escaping the wolf. It only sped up it's own pace, soon coming close enough for it to swipe out it's paw and slice him in two. 

With a howl, it leaped at him, intending to knock it's prey to the ground with it's own weight. With another yelp, Yugi rolled to the side, but the wolf anticipated his movement and snapped out it's paw, slamming it down on the boy's chest and holding him in place.

Yugi shivered as the muzzle descended towards his head, the jaws opening to reveal the creature's glittering fangs. Cowering, the boy squeezed his eyes shut tight, praying that the pain would be over quickly.

He was startled to hear a yelp of pain from the wolf, and to feel the sudden removal of pressure on his chest. He snapped his eyes open and sat up abruptly, staring at the sight in front of him.

Kaiba was standing a few feet over to the right, the long staff from his costume now broken in half in his hand. The wolf was cowering away from him for a few seconds--the CEO had obviously hit it over the head with the staff, forcing it to release Yugi. 

"Thanks..." the hikari breathed, still shivering.

"Don't thank me yet," Kaiba muttered, watching the silver wolf. It had recovered from the unexpected attack and was now pacing threateningly towards Kaiba. The teen began to back up slowly, never turning his back to the wolf, but apparently it was going to attack him whether he liked it or not. 

With a warning howl, the creature leaped high into the air, paws outstretched to slash the teen's head from his shoulders...

...and stopped, yelping and writhing, in midair, now surrounded by a golden light.

"Are you all right?" Yami panted, dashing up to them with his Millennium Puzzle glowing brightly. The wolf, still hanging in the air, began to dissolve into wisps of shadow, howling in angry pain. Within seconds it was gone; the gateway that it had come through followed, blasted clear through by a dangerous golden-green light. 

Yugi trotted up to his yami wearily, thankful that the dark spirit had come at just the right moment. "We're okay. Just shaken, that's all."

"Cutting it a bit close, don't you think?!" Kaiba hissed irritably, whirling to face Yami. "Why didn't you let it drop on my head, hmm?" The words dripped with enraged sarcasm. 

Yami sighed, fingering the Millennium Puzzle. "I am sorry, truly...I did not mean for it to take so long for me to get here. I reacted as fast as I could."

Kaiba growled in an imitation to have done the Silver Fang proud, before taking the two pieces of the staff and chucking them into a few low bushes nearby. "And a fat lot of good that did--it nearly took my head off!" He stomped off again, new anger to fuel his temper burning brightly. "If you're not interested in nearly beheading me again, then I think that I'll head back to wearing _normal_ clothes and playing games the regular way with nice, safe holograms." He had soon disappeared among the garden paths, no doubt heading back to his study to work--and to nurse his newly grown anger.

Yami sighed and shook his head. "I came as fast as I could, what more does he want?"

"He's been in a bad mood all day," Yugi said quietly. "Don't worry about him." He brought the conversation to other matters. "Yami, can you get back into the Puzzle now?"

The spirit shook his head. "I've tried at least six times by now. It's as if I'm blocked off from it."

Yugi sighed and shook his head to clear out the new thoughts flowing in. "Okay, next question. What exactly just happened here?"

Yami was silent for several minutes, staring about at the trampled flowers and gigantic paw prints. Finally, he spoke, though slowly. "I'm not sure, Aibou, but I am positive that something is very, very wrong with the Shadow Realm."

*****

HCG: And there's chapter ONE done. ^_^

Kaiba: *dryly* Oh, goody, if I nearly got killed in chapter one, I can't WAIT to see what delightful new things will happen to me later on. 

HCG: o_O;; Don't get too happy. 

Kaiba: *bangs head on wall* One of these days I'm going to teach you what "sarcasm" is. 

HCG: ^_^;; Okay! Well, notes. For the costumes: Yugi's costume is actually based off the cover of "Forbidden Memories," the game for..er...some game station o_O;; Kaiba's costume is, of course, in the anime, and Tea's outfit is based off one of my OWN Halloween costumes (though I didn't wear a mini-skirt--I wore these awesome black pants ^_^)

Oh, and thank you again to you all who've read "Shadow Turned Light" and have been patient enough to wait this long. (I know I've received a few emails asking me _when _I'd post next *laughs*). I hope this satisfies you....and yeah, I realize this chapter is odd, and even a bit comical sometimes, but trust me--enjoy it, 'cause it's gonna get ugly fast.

Karma: Now, please review for this story--HCG has sworn not to start writing the next chapter until she has at least one review. Get her writing! The next chapter's gonna be sweet!


	2. Negativity

Well, I'm back because I got the reviews I demanded ^_^ Thanks people! And the number I got...9...that's WAY better than how I did with "Shadow Turned Light," as I only got 2 reviews for my first chapter then. 

Kaiba: Yeah, cause you were a tiny little nobody that had never been heard of before. 

HCG: _ Shut up!

Slash: Well, it's true!

HCG: *dryly* Geeze, great job. You call yourself muses? HAH!

Karma: *shakes head* They really are hopeless. Forget them.

HCG: Right! Okay, quickly, a few notes: 

****

Daricio~ Yup, it's no problem using your idea. It actually fit in quite well with the mood I was trying to present, so *shrugs.* And I'm glad I made you happy ^_^

****

Magical Mage~ Why's being first a bad thing? I would consider it great. Well, in any case, you weren't first--Silver Fang beat you to it. So don't worry!

****

Silver Fang~ Nyah, big cheesy smiles always get me x_X Here's the next chapter! (Duh XD)

And, finally--

HCG: o_O;; Wow, WSJ reviewed for ALL my stories, not just this one...cool! And sorry about the long-ness, I didn't expect it to get that long! O_O;; *reads STL review* And you hugged NR Bakura too x_X that won't turn out good..

NR Bakura: *randomly popping out of Negative Realm gate* What is WITH all you people and hugging me?! I'm getting sick of it! WSJ, Aibou....

HCG: ¬_¬;; People like you. Don't complain. You aren't supposed to be here either...*shoves him back into the N. Realm*

NR Bakura: I'm not done ye--*gets cut off as the NR Gate closes* 

HCG: *sighs* You'd be surprised how annoying he can get even WITHOUT being an insane tomb robber -_-;;

Kaiba: *taps foot impatiently* We ARE waiting for you to get a move on with this chapter, you know.

HCG: ^_^;; RIGHT! Kaiba, will you do the...er...honors? 

Kaiba: *nods* HCG doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of us. Only Slash and Karma belong to her. Which is good, because even WITHOUT being owned by her I'm still in major trouble at the moment, so--

HCG: That's enough, Kaiba -_-;; Okay, people, enjoy!

Notes: 

/word/ ~ Yugi to Yami in mind link

//word// ~ Yami to Yugi in mind link

__

italicized words are thoughts and memories/dreams

Negative Chaos 

Chapter 2: Negativity

Yugi stood among the scattered remains of what had once been flowers for several minutes, still not _quite _believing what had just happened. Even he knew he should have been used to such odd occurrences, but even so, he couldn't make himself comprehend this new trouble that had sprung up before him within minutes. 

_Something wrong with the Shadow Realm..._he thought to himself slowly. He had never thought that Realm of such power and terrifying might could be effected so badly so as to act in this way. It just didn't seem possible. And yet...here he was, the evidence of a Duel Monster's attack around him, with his yami unable to return to his own soul room. 

His latest thoughts brought him back to Yami's predicament. He asked his question again, though he already knew the answer. "Are you absolutely sure you can't return to the Puzzle?"

His darker half nodded quietly, moonlight glittering off the golden collar of Yugi's costume as the movement came to be. "I'm very sure."

The young Hikari sighed and shook his head to clear away his thoughts again before speaking. "Well...if that's the case, we had better head home before we draw too much attention. People are sure to notice if a near twin of mine suddenly shows up at the party."

Again, Yami nodded, and Yugi quickly picked his way up the path towards the Kaiba mansion, trying not to step on thorny bushes and flowers as he went. Yami followed, almost looking as though he was gliding instead of walking, and Yugi once again had that odd thought that Yami should be the one in charge. 

When the Hikari reached the large glass doors leading back into the party room, he turned to face the ancient pharaoh behind him, once again breaking into speech. "Okay. I'll go in here and tell my friends I'm leaving early. You go around the mansion and meet me at the front door."

Yami raised an eyebrow. "Have you _seen _how big this place is, Aibou? It might take a while."

Yugi shrugged. "We've got quite a bit of time, you know."

His darker half sighed before turning to walk along the walls of the gigantic building. "Very well. I'll meet you as soon as possible."

Yugi chuckled momentarily before the seriousness of the situation sank down on his shoulders once more. He sighed tiredly before sliding the French doors open and stepping through into the heart of the party once more.

Music, fast and loud, washed over him as soon as he entered. Colors and movement made themselves equally present to his senses, and he blinked despite himself. He shook his head again quickly, then moved off through the crowd of dancers to find his friends.

He found Ryou sooner than he had expected--the boy and his costume stood out easily against the rest of the people in the room. Quickly, Yugi called him aside and located the rest of his friends, signaling them to meet him back at their small gathering of chairs against the wall.

"There you are, Yug'," Joey said, grinning slightly, as he reached the rest of the already assembled group. "We were looking for ya. Where'd you run off to so fast?"

Yugi muttered to himself before saying out loud, "Nowhere in particular." He hastened to change the subject. "Listen, guys, I'm going to have to leave for tonight. I...er...promised Grandpa I wouldn't stay too long."

"Yugi, you've barely been here!" Tristen protested, sitting down on a chair as he spoke. "What's the rush?"

"I just have to get going, that's all." This time, Yugi noticed unpleasantly, there was a rather frantic tone in his voice.

Joey must have picked up on Yugi's worried sound, because he said suddenly, "You want me to go home with ya, too? I really don't have to stay, you know." He chuckled slightly, attempting a half-hearted joke. "Kaiba looked pretty mad in any case; if I stay too much longer he'll probably bite my head off."

"No, don't worry Joey," Yugi said, forcing a cheerful tone into his voice. "Really, I'm fine. And if anything happens, I've got Yami with me to protect me--so you don't have any need to worry."

"You sure?" The blonde sounded skeptical, and he was frowning slightly as he glanced down at his friend.

"I'm positive."

Joey shrugged, though the skeptical look did not leave his eyes. "Alright. But if you need anything, don't hesitate to call me out of here."

Yugi nodded, grateful for his friend's caring words--even if he wouldn't be accepting them. "Right. I'll see you guys tomorrow at school, then." 

The group waved goodbye, Joey still watching suspiciously, but Yugi had already waded through a small group of dancers and was heading for the door before the teen could have reacted. The tall teen sighed, shrugged, and went to join the dancers as a new song began to play, soon loosing his worried look as it was replaced by a happy, fun-loving one. 

Yugi reached the front doors with as much speed as possible, tearing them open and dashing outside before even the waiting butler could react. He breathed in a fresh, clear lungful of air and sighed, feeling slightly more relaxed. 

"Yami?" he called hesitantly, looking around the grounds in front of him. It was dark, with the moonlight casting shadows in unfriendly places and causing the imagination to jump to frightening conclusions. 

_Halloween really makes you think in odd ways, _he thought to himself, slightly annoyed that he could be thinking such childish thoughts at this point and time.

There was a rustling from Yugi's left side, and he whirled around quickly despite himself. "Who's there?"

"It is only me, Aibou," he heard a calm, familiar voice say. The owner was unveiled as he stepped from the bushes into the moonlight, revealing Yami and nothing more.

"You scared me," Yugi muttered faintly, scolding himself again for thinking in such a jumpy way.

"It is understandable, Yugi," Yami said kindly, picking up on his charge's thoughts through their mind-link. "You were just attacked by a monster, so you are bound to think in more defensive ways."

"I suppose," the lighter soul of the two murmured. There was silence for several seconds until he suddenly said, "Well....should we go?"

He didn't wait for an answer before turning and walking off down the path to the road, though he knew his Yami would have agreed. The darker spirit, in turn, fell into step behind his Aibou, again seeming to glide along the hardened concrete of the walk in a rather eerie fashion. 

The walk home was slow, and almost completely silent. Yugi wasn't sure what his yami was up to, but he, for one, was deeply immersed in his own thoughts. He found himself desperately wishing for answers. Why had the Shadow Realm denied Yami his soul room? What had made it attack him with a Duel Monster? He sighed, knowing the answers would not be coming, but hoping for them anyway. 

After what seemed like only seconds, the pair reached the darkened windows of the Game Shop. Yugi guessed that his grandfather had gone to bed rather than waiting up for him, as he was expecting his grandson to return far later than his actual arrival time. Sighing again, this time in frustration, he unlocked the door to the Shop and entered, pacing up to his own room. 

He entered his room quietly, so as not to disturb his grandfather in the next room, and walked over to his bed. He sat down and rested for a few minutes, still running thoughts over in his head hundreds upon hundreds of times, as Yami entered after him and quietly stood in the middle of the room.

After several minutes, Yugi finally stood up once more, walking over to one of his drawers and removing a pair of pajamas. He quickly changed, taking off the elegant robes of his costume and exchanging them with the loose-fitting, comfortable nightwear. Once done, he hung the Egyptian costume in his closet and stretched out on his bed, thinking.

Abruptly, Yami spoke. "I still cannot reach the Puzzle." The spirit groaned in annoyance, moving to sit in a chair by the bedside. His clothes had not changed, as he was in a physical form, and so he still wore the golden-and-violet robes with it's fine golden jewelry. 

Yugi sighed again. "You'll just have to keep trying." He thought for a second, then asked quietly, "Should I try checking your soul room?"

"It's worth a try," the darker half muttered, sitting back in his chair. 

Yugi nodded, closing his eyes to help him concentrate and transporting himself to the corridor of the mind that had been constructed when a second spirit had come to inhabit his body. He quickly trotted over to a door of heavy iron, a foreboding-looking entrance with the Eye of Horus carved on it's front. 

Carefully, the boy tried to open it, but the door would not budge. Now confused, he pushed again, this time harder. Again, nothing happened, and the lighter soul began to grow worried. Even if Yami _did _lock his soul room door to his charge, which was rare, Yugi still had the ability to open it, the door existing in his own mind. He shoved with all his strength for one last time on the metal, but the door still refused to move. 

Sighing, Yugi closed his eyes and retreated from the mind corridor, returning to his body as his physical eyes snapped open. He blinked and sat up on the bed, turning to face his yami.

"Well?" the ancient pharaoh asked, frowning at his aibou's worried, confused look. "What did you find?"

"Your soul room...it's locked," Yugi explained, his own frown growing on his face."Locked?" Now Yami looked confused. "But I wasn't the one who locked it...it should be open!"

Yugi shrugged. "It wouldn't even open when I tried to force it," he muttered glumly. 

Yami sighed, shaking his head. "I know the Shadow Realm is involved in this. It's that Realm that's blocking me, I know it."

The young Hikari blinked, and a question burst forth before he could stop it. "What _happened _back there? At Kaiba's mansion, with the Silver Fang?"

Yami blinked, organizing his thoughts quickly before speaking. "I thought about it during the walk home," he said slowly. "I think...I think the Shadow Realm's powers are overflowing."

Yugi looked surprised. "Overflowing? What do you mean?"

Yami sat back further in his chair as he explained. "Each magical item and area has certain limitations. They can only hold so much magic--they don't have endless supplies. Even the Puzzle has these limitations--just very broad ones, allowing the Item to take in quite a bit of magic." He frowned before continuing. "The only problem is," he said slowly, "that if the limits to a magical item or place are reached, the powers within the item will begin to overflow. It's like when you fill a glass up with too much water--the glass can't hold it all, and the water spills over the edge. The items and places can't take too much magic, or it will overflow to try and balance the powers out."

"So you think that Silver Fang was a result of Overflowing magic?" Yugi asked, slightly disbelieving.

"That is indeed what I believe." Yami looked more than worried now. "The Shadow Realm should be able to take quite a bit of magic, but with all the problems we've been having lately--people being sent to the Shadow Realm, duels concerning the Monsters, the over-use of Millennium Items--it makes quite a bit of sense that the Realm may have gathered too much energy. It has to get rid of it somehow, and it's decided to overflow it's magic into our own Realm." His worried tone deepened, his forehead creasing with his frown. "That Silver Fang was created from the Shadow Realm's powers--did you see how it was made out of shadows when I banished it? The magic must have worked it's way into this Realm and re-created the monster here. And perhaps another effect is this strange block that won't allow me to return to the Puzzle."

Yugi nodded carefully, the reasons for the odd occurrences that night finally making sense--for the most part. His thoughts also hardened; if something was wrong with the Shadow Realm, it would be up to himself and his yami, with the help of his friends, to set the problem right. The thought was a frightening one--the Shadow Realm was never a power to be trifled with, if it could be helped--but his sense of duty was there and as strong as ever, and Yugi could not abandon a task he knew he had to face.

Suddenly, something the pharaoh had said triggered the young Hikari's memory. He started slightly as he almost _heard_ that mysterious voice that had called to him two nights ago in his Shadowdream. _"The Balance is becoming unstable for you once more, Worthy Light. Be very careful."_ Could this have been the problem in the Balance the voice had talked of?

Yugi shook his head slightly at the thought. He doubted something concerning the Shadow Realm would qualify as a problem; after all, when _he _had been summoned to mend the Balance, it had had nothing whatsoever to do with the Shadow Realm.

_That's not true, _a tiny voice in the back of his mind whispered. _What caused all the trouble in the Negative Realm to begin with? The Shadow Madness. And what caused that? The Realm that is now causing you your own troubles._

Shut up! Yugi hissed in reply, aware that he was talking to his own mind and not Yami's, but not caring. _I don't want to think about that!_

Obediently, the little voice of reason swept back and away from Yugi's thoughts, leaving him alone with his darker half. As if to make absolutely sure, however, he shook his head once more and erased the thoughts of the Shadowdream warning from his head. 

"Still a block," Yami interrupted, unaware of what was going on in his Hikari's mind. "And a strong one at that. At least I can _sense _it now, though." He sighed, allowing a few golden bangs to spill over the golden band at his forehead and into his eyes. "From the level of it's strength, I doubt it will be letting up any time soon."

Yugi yawned and blinked before returning his gaze to his darker half. "That strong? But that would mean that this 'overflow' of magic is really powerful!" A worried look mixed with his tired one as he stared over at his yami. "What are we supposed to do about it?"

Yami shrugged, making even the casual response seem graceful in the robes he still wore. "I don't know, or at least at this moment. We'll just have to wait until I can return to the Puzzle before we can try to discover anything else."

Yugi nodded, yawning again. "Alright, I suppose it makes sense. In any case, it's all we can do at the moment."

The ancient pharaoh chuckled slightly at his charge's weary yawns and suggested calmly, "Perhaps you should get some sleep. You've had a tiresome day, and there is no need for you to stay up in order for me to return to the Millennium Puzzle."

"I know," Yugi muttered, his voice softer from fatigue. "I just feel like I should be staying up, that's all. I want to see as much as you do how strong this block is."

Yami nodded quietly after a moment's hesitation. "Very well then," he said slowly, "stay up if you wish. I will let you know when the magic begins to weaken."

"Thanks," the lighter half of the two replied, breaking into a small grin.

For three and a half hours the two sat in near-darkness, making no sound and moving not an inch. Twice Yugi nearly fell asleep sitting up on his bed; when he wasn't trying to wake himself up he sat with chin in hands, and elbows balanced on knees. Yami looked more like a statue than anything else, sitting straight-backed and staring exactly ahead of himself as if he was focusing intently on the desk across the room. The only way to possibly notice his aggravation with the temporary Shadow-spell block was by his breathing; every time he tried to break the block and failed, his breath would race for a few seconds before slowing to an almost unnatural rate. 

As Yugi was beginning to drift off for a third time, his darker half suddenly stood straight up, whirling to face the Millennium Puzzle still around Yugi's neck with a hard stare. 

"What's the matter?!" The young Hikari yelped, startled out of his near-stupor by the sudden movement and half-recoiling over the bed towards the wall in natural reflex. Noticing that Yami had not moved from his new position, Yugi hastily sat back in his original position and tried to slow his heart-rate.

"The block has lessened," the ancient ruler said softly, still eyeing the Puzzle carefully. "I think I could break through it if I tried."

"So try!" Yugi said, a slightly relieved and eager tone forcing it's way into his voice without him meaning for it to be there.

Yami nodded and closed his eyes, concentrating. Within seconds, his entire physical form began to dissolve and fade away, and Yugi had the odd feeling that his mind had gotten a bit more tightly packed now that a second mind had returned to it. 

/It worked?/ he asked skeptically, not sure if this was another trick of the Shadow Realm or not.

//For the most part, yes,// Yami replied slowly. //I got into my soul room easily enough, but the block is still trying to force me out. I may have to fight it for a while before it weakens completely.//

/Ah,/ Yugi muttered, a slight wave of fatigue filling his mind-link. 

The pharaoh picked up on the feeling instantly. //Yugi,// he said gently, but firmly, //go to bed. I don't need you to stay up anymore, and you have to go to school tomorrow, remember?//

Yugi had actually forgotten after all the events of the day, but he did not feel the need to argue with his spirit guardian's advice and so did not complain. Instead, he crawled into bed slowly, pulling up the warm covers to his chin and muttering tiredly through the mind-link, /Right...'night, Yami./

There was a chuckle from the other half of the link as the spirit replied. //Good night, Aibou. May your dreams be protected from your fears.// A phrase he had taken up saying ever since the first of the Shadowdreams Yugi had been through; he didn't know why he had adopted it, but he knew it made his charge feel safer, so he had continued to use it. 

Even though, at the moment, that same charge had not heard a word of the reply, already fast asleep. 

Yami chuckled again, sighed, and then turned to ward off the ever-present Shadow-spell block that was still attempting to dislodge him from the Puzzle. It was going to be a _long_ night. 

*****

Yugi woke the next morning feeling as though he hadn't slept in a week. He had only gotten a few hours' rest to begin with, and to add to his troubles, Yami's exhaustion from battling the unusual block on the Millennium Puzzle had passed on to him. He frowned, still greatly fatigued, and pulled on his school uniform mechanically, not even noticing that he was done until he found himself halfway out into the hall towards the kitchen. 

His grandfather greeted him cheerfully, asking how the party had been last night and if he had had fun. Yugi answered with a half-hearted grunt, unable to summon enough strength to say more. His grandfather, taking the response in a completely different way, laughed and said something about how "kids these days should look after their health and get more rest, not stay up all night partying." Perhaps, had he been feeling more energetic, Yugi would have argued, saying that he had only been at the party for a few hours, but he felt that it wasn't important and set about to the enormous task of forcing his breakfast down his tight throat. He didn't want to eat, he wanted _sleep. _

He blinked in surprise as he heard the familiar tap at the glass doorways of the Game Shop, and hastily dragged himself up from his half-eaten breakfast to go to the door, opening it and admitting Tea. The girl smiled, looking quite energetic, and quickly asked if Yugi was ready to go to school. Another barely-audible grunt from the shorter teen was all she could make out before he had disappeared into the Game Shop, reappearing moments later with his book bag slung over one shoulder.

"'Bye, Grandpa," the young Hikari muttered sleepily, half-waving to the man organizing the counter behind him in the shop. His grandfather nodded, again cheerfully, and Yugi started off with Tea towards the school, guessing that he would fall asleep before first period was finished that morning.

Tea observed her friend carefully before asking, "Uh, Yugi? What happened last night?"

The question caught the boy off-guard. He started before hastily trying to cover his surprise, muttering slowly, "What do you mean?"

Tea frowned. "You know perfectly well what I mean. Last night you left the party early, and you looked as if you'd fight a person if they tried to get in your way. What happened?"

Yugi shook his head, disagreeing--or at least appearing to. "Nothing happened. Don't worry, Tea. I just had to get home to Grandpa...he was expecting me back early, that's all. I told you that."

Tea blinked, trying to erase the slightly skeptical look that had been settling over her features. She wasn't sure she believed her friend--she practically _knew _that something had happened last night, and it had frightened him badly--but if he didn't want to talk about it, she wasn't about to press him. Nevertheless, she kept a careful eye on him during the rest of their walk to school, watching for signs of nervousness or fear. 

As they approached the school and nothing out of the ordinary had happened, however, Tea began to doubt even her own suspicions. Maybe she had just been over-reacting, and nothing had scared Yugi at all. She frowned to herself again before finally erasing the thought from her mind completely. 

When they had passed through the courtyard and were approaching the school doors, Joey suddenly burst out of them and darted towards the pair, grinning. "'Ey, what's up, Yug'?" He asked, smiling. 

"Nothing much," Yugi mumbled, relieved to see that his emotionless grunts had evolved into actual words. "How about you? How was the party?"

Joey blinked for a second as the questions were neatly reversed and returned to him before slowly beginning to answer them. "Oh, I'm fine, too. And the party was great!" He grinned suddenly. "Hey, guess what? Remember the costume contest Mokuba was telling us about last night?"

Yugi nodded, managing to look slightly interested. "Yeah, I remember. Who won?"

Joey laughed. "Only the obvious. Ryou won by a mile, although a few of the other students around here came pretty close." A small grin, concealing the quick frown of concern for his friend, formed on his face. "You would've won if you'd been there, you know. Why'd you leave anyway?"

Yugi sighed, sounding tired. "Nothing of interest. I just had to get home, that's all. Why are all of you guys asking me about this?"

Joey looked a bit taken aback, but he spoke quickly. "Just 'cause we're concerned, that's all. You looked pretty worried last night. We wanted to know if anything was wrong so we could help."

Yugi smiled the smallest bit. "Thanks, Joey, but like I said last night, nothing's wrong. You don't have to worry at all."

Joey frowned again, but before he could say more the bell rang, signaling first period. Yugi silently thanked luck that the bell had rung at that precise moment, for he could see on his friend's face that the boy had been about to ask further questions about his sudden leave at the party the night before. Instead, the taller teen only frowned and headed off to his first class, Biology, while Yugi turned and headed in the other direction towards his Geometry class. 

The first half of the day passed rather uneventfully, or as much of it as Yugi was awake to see--several times in his classes he nearly fell asleep as he listened to the gentle drone of the teachers' lectures. At one point he even tried to contact Yami through their mind-link to see if the spirit was faring any better, but apparently the pharaoh had retreated into his soul room to rest up and regain the energy he had lost during his struggle against the Shadow-spell. Sighing, the Hikari had returned his attention to the lectures, only to nearly fall asleep once more and receiving an angry word or two from the teacher for doing so.

He practically sighed in relief when the bell rang for first lunch, snatching up his back-pack and nearly diving for the doorway out of his science room. He walked as quickly as he could towards the cafeteria, which turned out not to be that fast due to his exhaustion, and all but collapsed into his chair at his friends' lunch tables.

"Hey, Yugi," Tristen greeted, digging into the hot lunch from the food line up at the front of the room. 

Yugi nodded, showing he had noticed his friend, before folding up his hands on the table and resting his head on them wearily. 

Joey seized the opportunity to try his questioning on his friend once more. "Yug', what happened to make you run outta that party so quick?"

"Nothing," the Hikari replied, his voice sounding slightly more awake. "Nothing happened, I can assure you of that."

Ryou, across the table, blinked in surprise and focused his level gaze on his fellow Light being. "I'm not so sure you can, or you wouldn't be avoiding the question so much."

Yugi sighed, withdrew his head and hands from the table, and spoke again, pulling his lunch out from his book bag. "There's nothing wrong, guys. I'm serious."

Joey frowned before a resolute, hard look came onto his face. "Fine. If _you _won't answer me, I'll ask somebody else." He turned, sweeping his gaze over the lunch room carefully, before spotting a familiar figure and grinning. "Bingo. Kaiba was out there too last night."

Yugi blinked in surprise and found himself in a trap. If he tried to stop Joey from asking Kaiba what had happened, his friends would _know _something was up and would pressure him for answers. He frowned slightly before nodding to his friend. "Fine, ask him if you want."

Joey stood up quickly from the table and carefully picked his way across the maze of chairs and tables, face focused on Seto Kaiba, who was currently making his way for the double doors that marked the exit from the room. He caught up to the company-owning teen a few seconds before he would have left the room and tapped him on the shoulder.

Kaiba spun around, glaring irritably at one of the people he despised most. "What do you want?" he hissed, tapping his foot impatiently. 

"'Ey, Kaiba," Joey tried, attempting a cheerful approach. "Just wondering and all, but what exactly happened last night at that party of your brother's that had you and Yugi so shaken up?"

Seto frowned for a minute before his eyes widened ever so slightly, showing a small amount of surprise. The emotion quickly hardened into the teen's usual angry, superior look, and he snapped rudely, "Shut your mouth and stop asking me before I have to put a muzzle on it, Wheeler!" 

Joey bristled but held his ground, though there was no hiding the harsh tone that now slipped into his voice. "What gives, Kaiba? I just asked a question!"

The teen CEO whirled around, heading out the doors even as he hissed, "If you want to know, ask your friend. I, however, am not talking to you about things that don't concern you." Before Joey could protest, the double doors snapped shut behind the second teen and Joey was left standing, annoyed and muttering to himself.

The blonde gave the double doors one last glare before returning to his friends, mumbling under his breath. He started to hammer Yugi with more questions, but Tristen held up a hand to silence his friend. He pointed to the smallest teen among them, saying quietly, "He's asleep, poor guy. Must've stayed up late last night, whatever bugged him."

Joey raised an eyebrow in surprise as Tea continued. "We should let him get some sleep. Whoever has a full lunch at the same time as he does can wake him up before the next class starts."

This turned out to be Tristen, who agreed to stay in the lunchroom with the Hikari next to him, who was slumped forward on the table, head resting on arms and sleeping peacefully despite the noise. 

The four teens remaining who _hadn't _fallen asleep used the remainder of the first lunch period to chat, avoiding Yugi's odd predicament while sticking to conversing about more normal things, such as the latest test scores and which History teacher was meanest. 

Eventually, first lunch ended with the trill of a bell, and Tristen was left with the still-slumbering Yugi. He sighed and took out a book he was supposed to be reading in one of his classes, deciding to catch up so as to actually know what the teacher was talking about. When his and Yugi's full lunches ended, Tristen placed the book back into his rather messy binder, shook the boy beside him awake, and headed off to his next class.

Yugi, feeling much more refreshed, headed off to his next class as well, which turned out to be his Ancient Cultures class. He had a relatively interesting lesson before moving onto his final class of the day, French. 

As the bell rang one final time to signal the end of the day, Yugi gave a tired smile of happiness and slung his book bag over his shoulder once more, trotting down the hall towards the entrance to the school. He sighed as he trooped down the steps and into the court yard, for once glad that none of his friends would be coming over that day. 

Or perhaps, he thought with surprise, he was wrong--for Joey was sprinting across the court yard towards him, his own bag clutched under his arm as he tried to catch up quickly. 

"Yugi, wait up!" the blonde panted, reaching his friend a few seconds later. "I'm walking home with ya today."

Yugi blinked in curiosity. "Today? But you have soccer practice today, don't you?"

Joey grimaced. "I'm supposed to have it. I'm kinda skipping."

The shorter of the pair was shocked. "You're what? But you _never _skip _any _of your sports practices!"

"Usually," Joey admitted. "But I'm kinda worried about you today, so I figured I'd walk home and see if you'd explain what happend to you last night."

Yugi sighed in vexation. "You just don't give up, do you?"

The other teen grinned. "Nope. I'm very determined, Yug', and you know it."

The Hikari stepped out onto one of the streets, crossing it so as to reach the sidewalk on the other side. "Well, I'm sorry, Joey, but there's nothing to tell." He shrugged.

Joey frowned. "You can't shake me off _that _easy, Yug'. I _know _something's wrong, and I'm not letting up until you tell me."

Yugi sighed and turned around one of the corners onto another street. "This is going to take a while, then." 

"Aw, com'mon, Yug', you just gotta tell me--"

"I can't when there's nothing to tell, Joey!" This time, Yugi wasn't pleased to see, his voice had a tone that practically screamed, "liar!"

"But if there's something wrong, then me and the others want to help!"

The shorter of the two turned around another corner and muttered, "Well, if you want to help, then stop asking me to--"

He cut off suddenly as he felt his yami brush at his mind with their shared link. //Yugi?//

The lighter half quickly concentrated so as to converse with his dark side more easily. /What's the matter, Yami?/

//Good...// the pharaoh sounded worried, and vaguely relieved that Yugi had answered. He suddenly seemed to realize a question had been asked, as well. //What's the matter? Well...it really depends on how you look at the problem...//

/What do you mean?/ the Hikari's curiosity was plainly sensed through the link, as well as his confusion.

//It's just...there's an odd power signature nearby, but a familiar one as well.//

Yugi frowned, now interested. /Familiar? Do you recognize it?/

//Indeed I do.// The spirit's tone darkened, and the worry sensed through the link increased. //Yugi, it's the same power signature that appeared when you went to that...that Negative Realm.//

The surprised flowed openly and unchecked through the mind link as Yugi spoke. /It's what?! Yami, do you think it's a Realm Gate?/

//Perhaps,// the ancient pharaoh muttered, somewhat evasively. //In any case, it is very strong, and it is very close as well.//

/Do you think we should go check it out?/

//I do not know, Aibou. Though I would rather not be separated from you again, as it did last time, nor have you forced to enter it.//

Yugi recalled the Shadowdream distantly, recalling the words the mysterious voice had told him. _It said I didn't have to go help the Negative Realm again, because nothing was wrong there,_ he thought to himself slowly. He relayed his thoughts through the mind link to his yami. /I don't think we have to worry about that./

//How can you be so sure?//

/I just...just know. From those Shadowdreams./

//Ah.// The worried feelings being emitted from Yami increased the smallest bit, yet his relief seemed to grow as well. The Shadowdreams never lied; if they had said Yugi would not be leaving this Realm again, they would be absolutely right.

Yugi broke off from his mind conversation with his yami as he heard the sounds of his friend next to him. "Yugi? What's up, dude? You look completely zoned out."

Yugi shook his head to clear away his thoughts. "I'm fine, Joey. I was just talking to Yami."

Joey's suspicious look intensified. "About what?"

"Wellllllll..." Yugi frowned slightly, then decided it couldn't hurt to tell Joey what he himself had just been told. "Yami says he thinks there's strong magic nearby, and it's similar to when the Negative Realm Gates were opened before."

Joey blinked, shocked. "You mean that a Negative Realm portal might be nearby?" Yugi nodded, and his friend continued. "Man, if one of _those _things is around here again, we'd better steer clear of it. What it did last time wasn't exactly welcome, and I doubt that we'd want it again."

The Hikari next to him sighed, frowning. The voice in the Shadowdream had said that the Balance was becoming unstable...was the Balance trying to fix things by summoning those from other Realms again? He shook his head once more, not entirely sure, before allowing Joey to direct him down the next street--according to Yami, in a direction away from the portal.

Unfortunately for whatever plans the blonde teen might have had, Yami suddenly exclaimed in surprise. //Now the power signatures seem like they're coming in front of us!//

Yugi blinked. /It _changed? _How is that possible?/

The darker spirit within him sighed. //I'm not sure, but I'm beginning to get suspicious.// He gave Yugi a new direction to turn in, away from both of the areas where the power signatures had been sensed, with Joey following behind once the whole problem had been explained to him.

They were doing well, seeming to have escaped the power of that mysterious portal they could sense and not see...when Yami yelled again in frustration. //It's in front of us _again!_//

Yugi felt another wave of shock roll over him, even as he relayed the message to Joey. It was as if the energy was _following _them...or maybe _herding _them...

Abruptly the Hikari adopted a resolute look and walked carefully towards a nearby alley, where Yami could sense the new source of power. With Joey following, looking apprehensive, he stepped into the darkened space and looked around.

At first, nothing at all was within the ally beyond it's scattered trash and dirt. Then, quite suddenly, the air seemed to split down in a line, slowly caving in on itself and opening up into a hole in the air. It gained a silvery color, as if it was both solid and liquid all at once, and shimmered brightly. Shadows poured out of the bottom of the portal and rolled restlessly below the opening in the air, yet they did not reach for Yugi and his friend as they had done the first time the portal had been encountered. Instead, they simply...waited.

Suddenly, the portal seemed to bulge, it's silver color pushing outwards as if it wanted to snap off into the air and fade away forever. It soon changed to look as if somebody was trying to force their own way out, hammering on the back of the bright Gate that moved, but did not open. 

"Oh, God," Yugi hissed suddenly, coming to a realization. "We're not going _in..._somebody else is coming _out!_"

It was true, as Yami--looking through Yugi's eyes--and Joey could easily see. Each watched carefully, anxiously, wondering what would happen...

Without warning, the silver of the portal seemed to snap in half, allowing the figure behind it to crash out of the Gate onto his back. He slid a few inches, as if he had been shoved out forcefully, before raising himself up in a quick, fluid movement and allowing something metallic and shiny to flash from his hand towards the portal he had just exited from. 

The portal seemed to shrivel up back into the air quickly, withdrawing it's shadows and disappearing within seconds. The item thrown at it collided into the brick wall behind what had once been the portal instead, sticking into a small crack and quivering, but not moving. Yugi noted with surprise that the item was a knife, sharp and dangerous-looking. 

"Damn it," the figure muttered, pulling himself to his feet and going to retrieve the weapon he had thrown. His back was turned, so Yugi couldn't place him by features, but there was something very familiar about his voice...

The person, meanwhile, had reached the wall where his dagger had come to rest. He raised his hand slightly and grasped the handle, pulling the small weapon from the wall and tucking it gently up one of his sleeves, no doubt in a hidden sheath, where it was easily accessible. This done, he turned around completely, and Yugi held back a gasp of shock as he recognized the figure fully.

The figure had deep, piercing blue eyes and dark brown hair, which looked quite nice against his fair skin and tall height. Though he was thin, there was a well-built look about him, and there was no question that he was quite strong and intelligent. His clothing reflected his personality almost perfectly; he wore a dark blue shirt over black pants, black boots producing from the ends of them. A deep, rich black trench coat swept over his powerful frame, with sliver and blue flames crawling up the arms from the wrists and the ankle-length material that brushed back against the wind. In fact, when wind did blow, it looked as if the flames were really dancing, really alive. 

The figure faced the two across from him somewhat calmly despite what he had just gone through. He brought his level gaze to face the Hikari directly opposite him, looking him over quickly before saying easily, almost lazily, "Ah, Yugi. Interesting to see you once again." 

Yugi stared across at the figure he knew all too well in amazement. After several seconds of pure, absolute silence, he muttered softly, "K-K-Kaiba?!"

*****

HCG: Nyah, and I'm done with chapter two!

Kaiba: ^_^ Yay, I'm in the fic again!

HCG: Weeeell, technically it isn't _you. _

Kaiba: Oh, what the hell. Do I care?

HCG: *dryly* Probably not. *sighs* Anyway. Yugi falling asleep at the lunch blocks is actually based of me (again). I didn't fall asleep at lunch, but before first period started I was reeeeally tired (from staying up all night WRITING, can you believe that?) so my friends told me to catch twenty minutes of sleep, and that they'd wake me up when classes were about to start. So I did ^_^

Okay, now, I am completely exhausted because it's 11:14 at night, and writing takes a lot out of you. I could have been lazy and gone to sleep two hours ago like I wanted to, but I wanted to get this chapter out to all you people who've been waiting for over a week. See how devoted I am to all of you?! SEE?!

Karma: ¬_¬;; You _are _tired. 

HCG: _ Shut up! *falls over suddenly from exhaustion*

Kaiba: o_O;; Okay, well...Reviews, please! HCG found that her last threat to not write until she got reviews worked so well...that she's doing it again. So if you wish to see what happens next, for the love of God review!


	3. The Blue Eyes

We focus on HCG, along with her three muses. All four of them are facing an oddly glowing portal, which is distinctly silver in color and very large. 

HCG: Wow, they actually DO exist?

Karma: ¬_¬;; We ARE in your own little story, Guardian, anything can happen here.

HCG: ^_^;; Oh yeah, that's right!

Kaiba: *blinks* I think it's opening...

*The Negative Realm Gate, for that is most certainly what it is, opens up and deposits two people onto the ground at the foursome's feet*

NR Kaiba: (the first person) *rubs head* Ow...geeze, there has GOT to be a better way to travel like that...

NR Bakura: *winces* You're telling me...

HCG: ^_^ Hey guys!

NR Kaiba: *stands up* Oh, hello..

Kaiba: O_O;; Weird...

NR Kaiba: o_O Yeah...

*two Kaibas stare at each other for a minute before turning away at the same time*

HCG: o_O;; Uh...so...anyway...

NR Bakura: ^_^ We came to see the fic! We're staying here in the little "author's mini-stories/notes" for the whole thing!

HCG: o_O You are?

NR Bakura: You bet!

HCG: Cool! Although, you, NR Bakura, are going to have to deal with MANY hugs...

NR Bakura: -_-;; Can I change my mind?

HCG: ^_^ Nope! Too late!

Kaiba: *sighs* Shall we get to the author's notes before you get side-tracked?

HCG: RIGHT! Okay, first, thanks to ALL the reviewers--I still can't believe I've gotten 24 reviews already. When I had 24 reviews on STL, I was somewhere around Chapter 6...I'm doing a lot better thanks to you guys! ^_^ Okay, now the individual notes:

****

Shiney mew ~ You think NR Bakura's cool, eh? Funny, a lot of people seem to--I think I'll stick with WSJ's theory on that.

NR Bakura: Why bother? I'm just so damned cool--without being an abusive freak--that EVERYONE loves me!

HCG: ¬_¬;; You have an ego to match that of my muse Kaiba's...

****

Silver Fang ~ Sleep? Yeah, I sure needed it that time...by the time I'd actually finished editing and reformatting the second chapter, it was 12:30 at night...*tired sigh* And I had Math first block, Fencing second the next day....too strenuous for in the morning..

****

YumeTakato ~ 'Course I left it on an evil cliffhanger! You've been reading my earlier fic, you should know by now that evil cliffhangers are what I live for! Well, anyway, here's the next chapter so you can actually figure out what happens...

****

Towariaito Zoon ~ ^_^ Somebody actually remembered what happened to NR Kaiba! How's his leg? 

NR Kaiba: It's in a great fat load of pain right now! *growls*

HCG: *whacks him over the head* You big liar! *turns back to TZ* Actually, keep reading and you'll probably get your answer soon enough.

****

Wingleader Sora Jade ~ That's an interesting "why people love NR Bakura" theory. Unfortunately, I don't think he's very fond of it...

NR Bakura: x_X Tackled AND hugged?! This is too much!

HCG: Aw, come on, she's just complimenting you on how you've never been an insane abusive meanie before! You're not even _that _psycho!

NR Bakura: *gags from WSJ's strong grip around his neck* If she keeps hugging me she'll probably drive me insane anyway! 

HCG: ^_^ I don't think so...I don't have to write it into your profile, you know!

NR Bakura: -_-;; Crap...for once I _want _to be the scary one...

HCG: And as for a general comment on the reviews...well, lots of people seem to like NR Bakura, NR Ryou, and NR Yami *coughSparky16cough*. Okay, the first two I can understand...I mean, come on, it's Bakura and Ryou, who _doesn't _love them? But how, HOW, _HOW _can you people love NR Yami?! He's an insane crazy guy! And he killed lots of people!

*reviewers glare at HCG*

HCG: *wince* Okay, so he did get healed at the end. And I'm not criticizing your tastes. I'm just confused, that's all. 

Anyway! So, you people are all anxiously awaiting the next chapter, to see what happens to Yugi, Joey, and NR Kaiba, yes? Well, if that's the case, then I'm really not one to stand in your way and block you from reading it! So, here we go...hmmm...NR Kaiba, disclaimer?

NR Kaiba: Sure, why not. Guardian here doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of it's characters. Karma and Slash (who didn't show up here) belong to her, however, as well as the personalities and ideas concerning the Negative Realm and all it's characters. HCG would be more than willing to share her theories, histories, and basic ideas for you to use in your own stories, provided you email her and ask first. 

HCG: Wow, that sounded almost professional.

NR Kaiba: Hey, I'm good at that. I mean, how many big organizations do I run? 

HCG: ^_^;; Oh yeah, that's right. The Opposition and KaibaCorp. Okay, great. Anyway....time for the fic! First, notes:

/word/ ~ Yugi to Yami, via mind link

//word// ~ Yami to Yugi, via mind link

__

italicized words are thoughts or dreams/memories

And on the side, I'm going to try and write this a bit less confusing than it actually COULD be...but keep in mind that it's hard to distinguish between two of the same person, such as Kaiba and NR Kaiba...so stick with it if you can, and if you can't, I apologize for writing weird o_O;; To help...NR Kaiba will probably be written out as "the Negative one" or something of the sort, while I won't add a title to the Regular/True Kaiba...usually....x_X wow I'm confusing...I'll shut up now....

Negative Chaos

Chapter 3: The Blue Eyes

Yugi and Joey bore twin expressions of shock as they stared across the alleyway towards the figure that had just spoken to them, and deep within Yugi's mind, Yami had a similar feeling of surprise. They were facing Kaiba--and yet, at the same time, a completely different person, and not related to Kaiba at all. 

The CEO, in turn, watched Yugi warily, his ice blue eyes meeting the other's smoldering crimson ones. He seemed determined, and was holding himself in a wary, ready stance, as though he was preparing to get into a dangerous fight. 

_I wonder why he's acting like that,_ Yugi thought to himself, as he watched the figure across from him with a slight frown. It was only then that he realized--Yami had almost unconsciously bonded with him, allowing himself just as much control over his host's body, and at the same time giving it the small changes that occurred when the darker spirit took over. He started in surprise as the answer to his own question came to him. _That Kaiba...he knows how to tell a yami and a hikari apart. And since it's Yami's appearance that he sees now, he's being cautious...especially since it's Yami that caused so much trouble in his Realm. _

/Yami?/ the young Hikari asked quickly, seeking his darker half.

//Yes, Yugi?// came the reply, though there was a slight growl in his tone. 

/Yami, you're making him nervous,/ Yugi hissed mentally, still watching the wary form of Seto across from him. /Remember, he's from the _Negative Realm?_ Remember what you did there?/

//Yes, but what does that have to do with anything? He can't even see me.// 

Yugi gave a mental sigh. /Do you realize you've bonded with me? You look like _you _now, not me./

//I have?// There was a sudden start of surprise through the link, before the pharaoh spoke again. //I never even realized! It was just instinct...something odd happened, and naturally I tried to take over so I could protect you.// He hastily withdrew his control on Yugi's body and retreated, although he still took advantage of his host's eyes and ears to keep up with what was going on.

Yugi blinked as he returned from his zoned-out look, shaking his head quickly and bringing his gaze back to the figure across from him. 

Kaiba, noticing Yugi's abrupt change back to his own form, easily withdrew into a calm, laid-back stance--though the Hikari knew he would be ready to fight at the drop of a hat, and very dangerously, too. 

"I'm guessing, then, that I'm in the True Realm," Seto said easily, and quite suddenly. 

Yugi blinked at the calm tone in the CEO's voice, surprised that he could sound so completely undisturbed at what had just happened to him. He recovered hastily and nodded, adding, "Yeah, you're right. It's nice to see you again."

"Likewise," Kaiba murmured, again calmly, as he absent-mindedly brought his left hand to his lower arm, holding it carefully. The reason was soon obvious to the young Hikari he spoke too; _both _of the ice-eyed teen's trench coat sleeves were covered in dark stains that looked suspiciously like blood, and several tears scored the fabric in a rough matter. 

"What happened to you?!" Yugi hissed, his voice coming perilously close to a yell. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine," the Negative figure reassured easily, withdrawing his left hand from his other arm quickly. "This is nothing to fuss over; I've had _much _worse, as you know doubt know. As for _what _happened to me--I was in the middle of an Opposition raid when I was dragged into this Realm."

The young Hikari frowned in confusion. "The Opposition's still up? But Yami...he said he was going to willingly retreat! Why would you still need the Opposition if he's not there for you to fight against?" Vaguely, the boy was aware of the angry growl in his mind that came from Yami; the spirit was absolutely disgusted with his Negative Realm self, and showed it in any way he could. 

"It's true that you made him retreat," Kaiba said slowly, stepping forward a few paces to join up with the other two, "but we're still cleaning up his act from before. There's a _lot _that has to be fixed, and we've met up with a few difficulties."

"Oh," Yugi murmured, a thousand new questions bounding into his mind. "Like what?" He asked first, deciding to get the most obvious question out of the way.

The Negative version of Kaiba opened his mouth to answer, but abruptly groaned and leaned against the nearby alley wall with a sigh. 

"What's the matter?" the young Hikari across from him asked, concerned. Could those wounds on his arms be a lot more dangerous than their bearer made out? 

The thought was quickly erased from his mind, however, as Seto muttered in a rather exhausted manner, "Damnit, did _you _get this tired after going through that portal?"

"I...I'm not exactly sure," Yugi answered him truthfully. "Parts of my memories from going through that portal were erased; I can't ever remember coming _out _of one."

Joey, who had up to that moment stayed silent, suddenly found himself jogged with a memory. He spoke up quickly, eager to help with the situation. "Yeah, I think that happens whenever somebody goes through one of those portals," he said, focusing the memory in his mind. "When Yugi came out of one the last time, he fell asleep almost instantly. I think traveling through those Gates just takes a lot out of you."

The Negative Kaiba turned his naturally icy gaze on Joey for the first time since he had stepped--or rather, fallen--out of the portal. He looked the blonde teen over quickly before saying easily, "Ah, Joey. From this Realm, I presume. No matter...it's a pleasure to meet you."

Joey's open mouth threatened to fall off completely if he didn't close it soon, and he hastily snapped it shut, drawing his thoughts back into his mind to think. He could have sworn that _Kaiba _had just been completely polite to him, treating him as if he was an equal. He sighed and shook his head roughly, confused.

He was jarred from his thoughts as the Negative CEO pushed back against the wall, attempting to stand up fully. He succeeded for a few seconds, but wavered dangerously, betraying his fatigue. Quickly, Joey moved forward a step and shot his hand out to grab the brunette teen's shoulder, steadying him. When he had regained his balance, Kaiba shoved the other boy's hand away and slid down against the wall, sitting at it's base in a cross-legged position. His back to the brick behind him, he sighed and leaned his head forward, closing his eyes and murmuring, "Give me a few minutes to rest and I should be recovered enough to get by."

Joey again had a tough time concealing his shock, and Yugi found himself struggling with the same problem. Nevertheless, the Light boy quickly muttered his agreement to the Negative figure sitting quietly on the ground. 

As the Hikari raised his head to face Joey again, he tilted it slightly, indicating a point a few feet away near the opposite wall of the alley. The two walked over to the wall, so as not to disturb the resting Kaiba, and slowly began to talk.

"Er...Yug'," Joey began, glancing at the tired figure a yard or so away from him, "is that the Negative Realm Kaiba you were telling us about in that story of yours?"

Yugi nodded quickly. "Yeah. _This _Kaiba is the leader of the Opposition--remember, they called him the Blue Eyes?"

"I remember now," the blonde teen muttered, nodding. "That story was actually _real?_"

"Yeah," the Hikari murmured in reply, looking somewhat hurt that he hadn't been believed in the first place. 

Joey, spotting the look, hastily said, "Well, you gotta admit, it didn't really seem like it _could _have been real."

"I suppose," Yugi replied slowly, though still with a rather unhappy tone.

There were a few seconds of silence before Joey gave an abrupt start. "Oh, geeze, I just realized something!" On seeing his friend's questioning face, he continued. "Okay, _this _Kaiba...the Negative Kaiba...he just came through that Realm Gate into _our _Realm. But _our _Kaiba is here at the same time. I think....I think we have a double of the same person, Yug'."

Yugi, apparently, had not realized this fact, and it registered plainly on his face. "Two Kaibas? But...but that's going to cause a lot of trouble.."

"You're telling me," Joey replied dryly. "I can't stand _one _Kaiba, let alone _two._"

The Hikari across from him, however, shook his head. "No, it's not that," he said quickly, wanting to explain. "Two of the same person would be hard to hide. It's a well known fact that Kaiba's only other relative is Mokuba...he doesn't have any twins. So if somebody suddenly finds out that there are two Kaibas, they're going to get suspicious. And from there....from there, people'll begin to dig into our personal lives, figure out about the Millennium Items, and generally get us into trouble. We can't risk that." He sighed, rubbing his temple absent-mindedly. "No, we've got to keep this secret."

Joey nodded quickly in agreement. "You're right. But if we've got to hide him...then where do we _take _him?" He frowned slightly, and a few stray blonde bangs drifted in front of his vision. "I mean, we can't just take him to the nearest arcade or whatever and blend him in. He's a CEO of a huge, famous company; he'll attract unwanted attention in the wrong place."

Yugi sighed again, turning to look at the calmly resting Negative version of Kaiba. Where _could _they take him, without him being noticed?

Quite suddenly, he realized that his yami was trying to contact him once more through their mind link. He quickly concentrated and dragged himself out of his thoughts and into the link. /Yeah, Yami?/

//You need a place to hide Kaiba?// The voice of his darker half sounded very serious, as though he had been thinking carefully.

/Yeah. That's the problem, though...we don't know where to take him./ A mental sigh flowed through the link, almost without the lighter half even thinking about it.

There came a quick chuckle from the pharaoh before his voice returned to it's serious tone. //Hide him right under the peoples' noses. Take him to the one place that he _doesn't _look out of the ordinary in--in fact, make it a place that he usually goes to, so people don't get any reason to be suspicious.//

/Hey, that's a great idea, Yami!/ Gratefulness rolled through the link to the darker half, and the spirit chuckled again as the mind link was cut off. 

"Yami gave me an idea of how to hide Kaiba, and I think I have the perfect idea as to where to take him," Yugi explained, returning from his mind to his conversation with his friend.

"Really? At least one of us is thinking, then," the blonde joked, chuckling. "What's the idea?"

"To hide Kaiba in a place that looks completely ordinary in...some place he's at regularly." A small grin spread over Yugi's lips as he continued. "And there's one place that Kaiba'll _never _be questioned in."

Joey frowned as he picked up on his friend's idea. "You don't mean..."

Yugi nodded, the grin spreading wider. "Yup. KaibaCorp."

The taller of the pair thought over the idea quickly before nodding a bit. "It might work," he said agreeably, "but there's one problem."

"And that is?" the Hikari asked, his grin fading slightly. 

"The Kaiba from _here _is currently _working _at KaibaCorp. People might notice if two of the same person were wandering around the building, especially those that already have a suspicious eye on Kaiba to begin with. And then, of course, there's the problem of the True Realm Kaiba. I doubt he's going to sit back and let the three of us, one of which is the exact same person as himself, use his building as a hide-out and keep perfectly calm at the same time. I mean, come on; do you honestly think that _Kaiba's _the kind of person to put up with this stuff?"

"Maybe not," Yugi admitted, "but we've got to try nevertheless. We really don't have much of an alternative choice; we'll just have to explain the whole problem to the True Kaiba when we get there."

Joey sighed, then shrugged. "Suits me then, I guess," he muttered. "I don't have any brighter ideas, in any case."

Their conversation was brought to an end as they saw the Negative figure leaning against the opposite wall stir and begin to sit up straighter; the two of them turned and returned to their newfound companion quickly. 

"Hey, feeling more rested?" Yugi asked cheerfully, as the CEO turned his head to look up at the pair addressing him.

"A bit," came the reply, though slowly. "Still a little tired, but I can keep going easily."

"That's good," Joey said, "because we've got a general idea of what we're gonna do now."

"Really? And that would be...?"

Astounded that there was no joke about himself getting smarter, the blonde continued quickly. "We're gonna take you to KaibaCorp. You'll _look _in your element, and nobody will question you. We don't want news to get around that there's two Kaibas, see."

The Negative Seto nodded easily. "It makes perfect sense. 'Draw not the attention you do not desire.'" He stood up slowly, wobbling for a few seconds but catching his balance without much trouble, and added, "Shall we go, then?"

"Er..right," Joey murmured, a little surprised that the CEO could sound so laid-back about his situation. He shook his head quickly and fell into step behind the darker-haired teen, with Yugi walking not too far behind him. 

The trio stepped out into the bright sunlight and found themselves quite close to the city. The tall KaibaCorp building was easily recognized, and the group set off quickly for their destination. At the Negative Kaiba's suggestion, the three took to the shadows and allies when they could, so as not to draw unwanted attention. Yugi, not as used to the Negative Realm figure's life, had a tough time slipping through the darkness without being seen; Joey was surprisingly good at it, however, and Kaiba was practically invisible even in the light of day, his dark black trench coat helping him blend into the darkness easily. 

As they made the transition suddenly from one alley to another, Yugi found himself focusing on Kaiba, who was in front of them--or more precisely, his walk. The Hikari was surprised he hadn't noticed the CEO's problem earlier; Seto had a definite limp in his gait, though he hid it relatively well, along with the help of his trench coat. 

_That's right,_ Yugi thought to himself suddenly. _He got shot in the leg when he was escaping Yami's main building...I never _did _find out what happened to him after that, not even in the Shadowdream._

As if to find this missing information, Yugi spoke up quickly. "Er...Kaiba? I remember seeing you on the security camera when you helped me break into Yami's complex...you got shot, didn't you? How's your leg _now_, then?"

The Negative version of Kaiba stopped and turned to look over his shoulder at Yugi before speaking. "It's mostly healed, now, although I'll probably have a permanent limp." He frowned for a second before continuing. "I got lucky, though. When those guards fired on me in the hall, they very nearly got me in the back, and that would've killed me. I was smart enough to fire the gun _I _stole at one of them; it made him jerk his own gun and hit my leg instead." 

Joey's eyes widened at the statement, and he hastily blinked away his startled expression. He had forgotten that part of the story Yugi had told...

The Hikari, however, went right on talking. "So _you _caused one of the gunshots?" At the CEO's nod, he continued. "That's good to know, then. You had me and Bakura really worried...we thought they had fired on you more, and possibly killed you."

Surprisingly, Kaiba laughed. "Oh no, it's _much _harder to kill a Blue Eyes...you need more than simple guns." There was another small chuckle before he continued walking on down the alley, slipping through the shadows to another with only the silver-blue flames on his trench coat showing through the gloom.

The other two followed him, and Yugi hastened to catch up to the Negative figure ahead of them. He spoke quickly, eager to get more answers to his questions. "So, what's been going on in your Realm since I left?"

The Opposition leader sighed, gathering his thoughts together so as to answer Yugi's question. "Quite a bit has happened. After I left Yami's complex that day, I wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but a few hours after _I _made it back with Joey, Bakura showed up. He looked pretty surprised; the way he explained it, Yami snuck him out of the complex and managed to keep his guards at bay long enough for Bakura to escape." The teen shrugged. "I don't know what you did to him that day, Yugi, but it sure worked. He withdrew soon after that, but we've still had quite a bit of work set up for us, cleaning up his act." 

The Hikari frowned slightly. "He withdrew? Where'd he go? How is he now?"

Kaiba raised an eyebrow at him slightly before saying in a rather dry tone, "How is he now? Your yami is a pain in the ass, that's what."

Yugi blinked in surprise, but before he could react the Millennium Puzzle began to glow. He felt the odd sensation of his mind separating, and realized with a start that Yami was leaving the Puzzle and forming a physical appearance. 

_Oh, boy, _the Light thought to himself, it's tone slightly worrisome. _This can't be good._

Quite suddenly, the air seemed to come together and solidify, forming a body that soon gained the distinctive, tri-colored hair and narrowed crimson eyes. Yami, now completely free of the Puzzle, spat angrily, "I am not!"

The Negative Kaiba, startled, had jerked his hand quickly, and within seconds a silver blade was clutched dangerously in his hand. His stance had changed as well, as though he as preparing to fight, and quite a bit of weight was rested on his once-injured leg, making Yugi flinch as he thought of how painful it must have been. 

Yugi stepped between the two hastily, cutting off their smoldering glares directed at each other. "Yami, look, he didn't really mean that," he hissed, facing his darker half quickly. "He's talking about you in _his _Realm. And Kaiba," he added, whirling to face the Blue Eyes, "_this _is my Yami. He's not going to try and harm you unless you attack one of my friends, and as I doubt that you plan on doing that any time soon, you're perfectly safe near him. He's much like Bakura from _your _Realm, okay? So both of you, just calm down."

Yami bristled angrily for a second before abruptly dropping his angry look, sighing and running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry," he muttered in the Negative figure's direction, "I wasn't thinking, that's all. Believe me, I can understand your situation perfectly." He growled under his throat, adding, "I still despise hearing of myself in your Realm, and I can see it from your point of view just as well."

Kaiba hardened his gaze and stared at the yami spirit across from him for a second before nodding, slipping his knife back into it's sheath up his arm as he straightened into an upright position once more. "I was probably a bit harsh with my wording," he admitted, sounding calm once more, though still looking wary. If there was an apology to be had, it would be found in that once sentence, for the Negative teen said no more. 

Yugi sighed in relief. The two hadn't leaped at each others' throats, and were already being friendly, if a bit forcefully. He doubted there would be much more trouble between the two--they just had to learn to get used to each other, now. 

Turning, Seto began to walk down the alley once more, talking as he spoke. Joey and Yugi caught up to him again and listened to his explanation of the events that had occurred in his Realm. Yami followed behind them, listening carefully.

"A few days after you left, Yugi," the Blue Eyes began, "Yami announced that he would be giving up his hold over the country, returning it to it's original leaders and retreating peaceably. At first it looked as if he was going to succeed, and that things would go back to normal--but then came the problem. Remember his Special Guard? The men that were trained to use their weak, natural magic to help him in his conquering? They revolted, trying to take hold of the power Yami had gained when the one person who could defeat them backed away. When the Pharaoh gave up his power and tyrant rule, the Special Guard, along with the majority of his followers, grasped hold on it again. The Opposition has been trying to disband them ever since, but they're dangerously powerful. 

"However...at the beginning, when they first took over, they weren't focused on the Opposition. They were trying to find Yami, of all people. The Pharaoh had gone into hiding after he pulled back from his rule, and the new group--they call themselves the Hand of the Shadow--wanted to locate and eliminate him. They were worried that, since he was _far _more powerful than they, he could return and stop their new reign of terror. 

"After nearly a month, they _did _locate him, in a neighboring city to the North. The Hand of the Shadow tried to close in, kill him, and steal the Millennium Puzzle, in hopes of gaining his enormous power. However, a few of my most loyal scouts were able to pass the information along to myself and my top agents. We staged a counter attack, meeting the Hand of the Shadow head on and stopping them from capturing Yami. We brought him back to the Opposition with us, so that the Hand would have no chance of stealing his power, and he has been under our protection ever since." Kaiba frowned slightly, breaking for the first time in his story and staring over at Yami.

Yugi took all the new information given to him in with surprise. He thought carefully before asking slowly, "So...if Yami's on _your _side now...why isn't he helping?"

The Negative version of Kaiba sighed, shaking his head absent-mindedly, almost as if he was disagreeing with something. "That would be another problem of ours. Despite the fact that we've taken him into our own haven, he's still refusing to help. On the bright side, he isn't attempting to hurt us either, but..." another sigh, this time with a slightly exasperated tone. "It gets worse, though."

Joey looked shocked. "How could it possibly get worse than what you guys've already been through?" He might not have gone to the Negative Realm himself, but he had heard enough of the stories Yugi had told him to understand the basic ideas of the place, and he knew far too well what Yami had done in that opposite Realm.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow at Joey's outburst before answering. "There are _many _ways it could've gotten worse, and unfortunately for us, one of those paths was followed." He turned his speech slightly, directing it towards Yugi more than Joey, now. "Even though you removed the shadow from Yami's Millennium Puzzle, the long-term effects still remained. His mind has basically been altered--though he doesn't want to kill or conquer anymore, he still has a very dark sense of humor and justice, and his temper can get him to act very violent at the worst of times. Even worse is what this is _combined _with; he seems troubled with an intense wave of depression constantly. He feels horrible for everything he's done...all the pain he caused...and it drives him deeper into his depression every day." The CEO rubbed his temples in a rather exhausted manner before continuing. "He must've tried to commit suicide no less than eight times by now, since we've taken him into the Opposition's protection, and usually it's me or one of my other top agents that finds and stops him from succeeding. By now, we have to post a guard with him to make sure he doesn't try to kill himself, and we have to keep him under close watch."

Joey and Yugi's shock practically thickened the air around them; how had such a dangerous, yet intelligent ancient spirit gone so far over the edge? Yet it was Yami who registered the most shock. He stood in complete silence for a few moments before asking slowly, "But how could I possibly kill myself? I'm immortal!"

The Negative Kaiba turned a rather cold, ice-filled stare towards the Pharaoh, answering him angrily. "In my Realm, you created a physical body for yourself when you stole the remainder of Yugi's life forces. You still had some of the major advantages of a yami spirit, but you can very well die, at this point."

"I did _what?_" Yami hissed in reply, giving his aibou a quick glance. He slowly began muttering under his breath, growling words that sounded suspiciously like swears, which were directed at his Negative self. Kaiba, though a little surprised, seemed to approve of the spirit's actions, and became noticeably nicer towards the Dark figure as they continued to walk again.

"In any case," the Negative CEO continued, finishing up his report about the Negative Realm, "the Opposition is still working as strong as ever. A few of our secrets were given away when we got you into Yami's complex, but it was well worth the sacrifice for what we gained in return. _Now _we're trying to break up the remainder of the Special Guard and their Hand of the Shadow, but it's not easy. They still know how to block magical attacks and use their own natural magic against us, so many of us aren't much use any more. Probably the biggest problem concerning the loss of magic is that I can't use the Millennium Items at my disposal against the Hand...the Ring, Eye, Rod, and Tauk wouldn't have any effect on them. It's been forcing me to pile too much of the workload and missions on most of my non-magical men, with the Joey from _our _Realm at their lead, to fight the Hand, and even then we only just break equal." He shook his head, angrily this time, not wanting to admit defeat. "But I'll find a way somehow. I _know _I will, I just have to read over the reports and double my efforts." He muttered something about summoning dragons under his breath, but the majority of the words were lost to the listeners.

The group walked through new streets and allies in several minutes of silence before the Negative Kaiba spoke again. "I'm sorry," he muttered, "there I go again talking about my strategies and problems. I should be helping _you _guys out, not whining about my own troubles." 

Yugi blinked. "Kaiba, you're not whining, and we don't mind hearing. You've got a lot of work on your shoulders, and you need _some _way to loose stress."

Kaiba laughed bitterly. "Can't afford it," he hissed. "Waste any energy that could be used in what's important, and you're guaranteed to fail. I learned that lesson a long time ago, and the hard way as well." Leaving the other three behind, he half-walked, half-limped ahead of them a few paces to travel on his own, thinking to himself.

Joey watched the retreating back of the Negative CEO before turning to speak to Yugi. "Geeze, he's creepier than the Kaiba from _here._"

Yugi laughed. "Oh, come on, you just haven't gotten used to him yet. He's really nice, and determined."

Joey frowned. "If you say so. I still think this is really weird, though."

The Hikari glanced up at his friend before focusing his gaze on the figure ahead of them. "How so?"

"Well, just look at how he's been acting!" the blonde teen hissed. "He's been talking in a friendly way to you, and he hasn't tried to bash Yami's head in yet." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, indicating Yami, before continuing. "And the kicker is, he hasn't insulted _me _yet! I haven't heard a single dog crack or intelligence joke out of him--he even spoke _politely _to me!"

Yami rolled his eyes. "If he's being kinder than you're used to, don't complain. Unless you want him to insult you, of course."

Joey growled slightly at the dark spirit. "'Course not! I just ain't used to Kaiba being nice!"

Yugi laughed. "Well, he _is _the opposite of the Kaiba we know, Joey. Of course he'd be acting nicer, he has to be a completely different version of the True Realm Seto."

The blonde just shrugged. "If you say so." After that, the journey to KaibaCorp was left in silence.

It was nearly a half hour later that the Negative Kaiba came back in their direction, saying easily, "KaibaCorp is only a block away. We shouldn't have to worry about traveling in the shadows any more; I should look fairly in place here."

Joey nodded in agreement, with Yugi following his lead only seconds later. Yami showed his own agreement by disappearing into the Puzzle, so as to make travel easier for Yugi when he walked through the busy streets. 

With one final breath, the trio stepped out onto the sidewalk, pushing through crowds of people to reach the crosswalk. They traveled to the other side of the street with some difficulty, still pushing past the huge quantities of people, but luckily for them they weren't questioned. Even Kaiba, who stood out quite well with his tall height and dark trench coat, was ignored as the group pulled themselves to the KaibaCorp doors.

The Negative Kaiba only waited long enough to make sure Joey and Yugi were behind him before shoving open the heavy front doors and stepping into the lobby. He surveyed the room with a practiced eye, nodding approvingly before moving off towards the stairs.

"Wait, Kaiba, where are ya goin'?" Joey asked, giving the elevators a quick glance before following the CEO towards the dark-colored doors marked 'stairs.'

"I'd be too noticeable on the elevator," Seto replied easily. "For one, people would wonder why I'm not up in my office working. For another, they'd probably question these bloody cuts up my arms." He pushed open the doors and started up the first flight of stairs easily, acting almost laid-back.

Yugi, seeing the sense in the Blue Eyes' words, followed him up the stairs, giving Joey no choice but to come right behind the first two. They walked up the stairs quietly and quickly, each pouring over their own thoughts without interruption.

After a few minutes, they stepped out of the stairwells and into one of the many halls in the building. It was plainly furnished, with several doors leading off into various rooms. They all looked the same, but Kaiba headed with perfect sureness towards one particular door, standing in front of it and halting suddenly.

"What's the matter?" Yugi asked, stepping up next to his friend. "This _is _his...er...your office, isn't it?"

"Oh, it is," the brunette muttered, still facing the door. "I'm just thinking I should probably wait outside first, until one of you explains the situation."

"Why?" the question came from Joey, who had also caught up and was now standing next to the CEO with a confused look on his face.

The Negative figure answered with unbroken patience. "I would guess that any sensible person, even myself, would find it shocking to be facing an exact replica of themselves. He might not mean to, but he could be forced into a dangerous reaction just because of my unusual presence."

The young Hikari listened carefully, nodding his agreement. "You're right," he said carefully. "Here, I'll go in and explain it first while you guys wait out here."

"Yeah, I'd probably better wait out here until you finish explaining," Joey muttered, a slightly annoyed look coming over his face. "I'd probably just get on Kaiba's nerves and ruin the whole thing."

The Negative version of Kaiba raised a questioning eyebrow at Joey's latest statement, but before he could say anything, Yugi had already knocked on the door and had heard a voice from within murmur thickly through the doorframe, "Come in." The Light teen grinned slightly at the Negative figure's look of surprise at hearing his own voice from beyond the door, but before he could see much more, he had already opened the doors and entered the office of Seto Kaiba.

The Hikari looked around the finely furnished room, quite liking the overall effect that the rich furniture and other odds and ends added to it's appearance. Seto Kaiba, sitting at the desk in the middle of the room, enhanced the look of the room even more, giving it a powerful air. The wealthy CEO, looking exactly the same as the Negative Kaiba outside the door, only differed from his opposite counterpart by his clothing; he wore his simple, dark blue trench coat over green-blue pants and shirt, with plain brown boots. He was busily tapping away at his lap-top, shuffling papers about on his desk and scribbling on a few of them with a nearby pen, but he stopped as Yugi entered the room. 

"Well?" the company-owning teen snapped irritably, looking distinctly annoyed. "I don't have all day, you know. What're you doing here, anyway?"

Yugi fidgeted under the icy stare of his duelist rival. "Well...see, Kaiba, there's a sort of problem we need your help with..."

Kaiba sighed in annoyance, raising himself up a few inches from his lap-top to focus clearly on the boy standing in the middle of his office. "Then hurry it up and tell me what the problem is. I've got lots of work to do, Yugi, I don't have time to spend chatting."

The Hikari sighed. "Kaiba, this is going to sound weird, but do you believe in other Realms?"

There was silence for a moment before the answer came to him. "What? What're you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how there are hundreds upon thousands of other Realms that exist alongside our own. _We _exist in each one, but in each one, we may make different choices or have different personalities. I've been to one, in fact. Another Realm, I mean. Actually, it's the Negative Realm, the opposite of _our _Realm...the True Realm."

Kaiba snorted, holding in his laughter. "That's a very nice story, Yugi, and I suppose it'd make an interesting book or something...but really, do you expect me to believe _that?_"

Yugi tried to ignore the insulting tone of the other teen's voice, continuing with his rapid explanation. "There's also a time when people from the Negative Realm may be pulled into our own Realm to help us out when we're in too much trouble. That's the Realm's Balance. And Kaiba..._your _Negative self is standing right outside the door, at this moment."

The CEO chuckled again, but the annoyance in his voice was beginning to become evident. "Really, Yugi, I have no time for your stories. I have too much work to do. Why don't you go bug one of your other friends? I'm sure they have nothing better to do than to listen to your made-up stories."

The Light teen he spoke to sighed in frustration. "I really wish you'd believe me, Kaiba," he muttered. "But I _do _have a way to convince you." He turned and faced the door, calling softly. "Guys, you can come on in. I don't think he's gonna believe any other way."

Seto looked thoroughly fed up now, and growled in frustration. "Yugi, I don't have time for games. I'd appreciate it if you left now." 

At that moment, however, Joey entered into the office, walking over to the side to make room for another person to come through. He gave Kaiba a quick, startled look, which changed just as quickly to an angry one, before the brunette teen's attention was brought to the second person entering through the door.

His ice-blue eyes widened in pure, utter surprise, and he unconsciously found himself standing up, as if preparing to fight or flee. 

The person facing him was...there was no other way to describe it....was _himself._

There was a full minute of complete silence, as though some higher being had placed the world on mute, not wanting to hear it's troubles. Then, abruptly, the silence was shattered brutally, as though a hammer had gone through a sheet of glass.

"What's going on here?!" Kaiba roared, staring across at his flame-adorned counterpart. The other being looked just as surprised, though it was obvious he was attempting to hide it. 

"I'm sorry, Kaiba," Yugi apologized quickly. "I know this is a bit of a shock, but you wouldn't listen to my story. You wouldn't understand yet, but I'll try to explain." He sighed quickly before continuing. "Kaiba, this is your Negative self, like I was saying earlier. He's _you_...but nearly the exact opposite of you, at the same time."

"I...I don't believe it..." the CEO hissed softly, but his expression betrayed him; the evidence spoke clearly in his mind, and it was obvious that he had accepted the story.

The Negative Kaiba, meanwhile, had gotten over his shock and was calmly looking his counterpart over. After a few minutes, he spoke. "So. You are the True version of me. You don't look so different, and you can obviously run KaibaCorp perfectly, from what I've seen around here...we'll just have to find our differences in due time." He nodded slightly, approvingly, before returning to his silence once more.

The True Kaiba, meanwhile, was staring at his opposite in surprise. They even had the same voice...he blinked, wiping his baffled look from his face, before turning to Yugi and asking hoarsely, "You needed my help, right? What do you need?"

The Hikari he spoke to grinned, relieved. "We need a place to hide _him._" He jerked his head towards the Negative teen, indicating him, before continuing. "People would get suspicious if they saw two of you, or even saw you wandering around when you're supposed to be at work. We figured this would be the best place to hide him, as he looks natural here."

Kaiba nodded, understanding instantly. "Makes sense. Of course I'll help." He gave his opposite an odd and slightly confused look before leaping into action; likewise, his Negative observed his plan closely. 

Whirling around his desk, Seto pressed his finger to a small panel on the side of his desk, emitting a loud buzzing noise as he did so. After a few seconds, a small, slightly fuzzy voice could be heard. "Yes, Mr. Kaiba? Can I help you?"

_He's calling his _secretary? Yugi thought to himself, disbelieving. _Now?! _

"You can indeed," Kaiba continued, unaware of Yugi's mental exclamation. "I don't want to be disturbed by _anyone _right now. Call off all the business meetings I had scheduled for later, and don't allow any visitors or other business managers to come through. Understood?"

"It's very clear, Mr. Kaiba." The reply sounded almost bored. "I'll relay the message right away, sir."

"Good." Conversation done, the CEO removed his hand from the button and turned to stand facing the others.

"Er...Kaiba? Isn't that gonna seem suspicious?" Joey asked, curious.

"No," the brunette replied, his voice slightly rude, but only out of habit. "I do it all the time. It should seem pretty normal to the others out there by now. Of course, when my usual load of paperwork doesn't come out by the end of the day, _that's _when they'll get suspicious, but until then..." he let it hang, shrugging. His Negative version chuckled, as if it had all been some huge joke. 

Seto raised an eyebrow at his opposite's laugh and turned to study him once again. He let the smallest expressions of surprise cover his stone-hard face as he looked over the Negative's sleeves; they were stained in what looked horribly enough like blood, and were covered in scratches and cuts.

"Those have to be treated," he said suddenly, indicating the torn sleeves and the cuts underneath. "You can't just leave them open all day, you know."

"I'm fine," the Negative Kaiba assured, waving aside the advice casually. "I don't need any help, thank you."

The True Seto, however, shook his head. "You're stubborn, like me," he hissed. "I'm not putting up with that. I'm calling for somebody to get some supplies up here, _now._" His no-nonsense tone caused his opposite to raise an eyebrow in amusement, but he didn't protest. 

Kaiba, seeing this, picked up the phone on his desk and dialed a few numbers quickly, with practiced ease. He gripped the hard plastic of the phone easily as he waited, counting off the number of rings that had passed. On the third ring, the person on the other side picked up, and he began speaking to them quickly. 

"Hey, where are you?" he muttered into the phone, as the other three people listened to his end of the conversation. There was a garbled, inaudible reply from the other side before Kaiba continued. "Third floor? Okay, good. I need you to pick up a few medical supplies...bandages and some other items...for healing cuts." There was another inaudible sound from the phone, and Kaiba nodded, despite the fact that the other person couldn't see the action. "Thanks. You're the only one who can get up here without being suspected." Without waiting for an answer, the CEO hung up and sat down behind his desk, returning his icy stare to the other figures in the room. 

The Negative Kaiba gave his counterpart an odd stare, looking slightly suspicious and confused. He quickly forgot his thoughts, however, as he swayed slightly and moved to sit down on an over-stuffed chair a few feet from the desk. 

"What's the matter?" Seto asked, frowning, as he watched his opposite. 

"Oh...he's fine," Yugi assured quickly. "When you go through a Negative Realm Gate, it gives you this really strong sense of fatigue. It'll pass after a while, but it's really powerful while you've got it."

"I...see," the True Kaiba muttered, nodding, as he watched his other self with confused interest. After a few seconds he sighed, shook his head, and returned his gaze to the other two in the room. "Make yourselves comfortable," he said easily. "We may have to wait a while." After seeing his two guests sit down in a few more of the over-stuffed chairs around the room, he returned to his lap-top, tying furiously.

Joey found this amusing, and laughed. "Why're you working _now _of all times?" he asked, still grinning.

"I'm _trying _to get as much work done as I possibly can," Kaiba muttered in reply, a curt tone filling his voice. "I have the feeling I won't be getting much done after this." His Negative chuckled in amusement and muttered something under his breath; the words were hard to hear, though Yugi could have sworn he heard "universal trait" mixed in with the mumbles. 

For several minutes, all that could be heard was the clacking of the keyboard at the brunette teen's fingertips. The others amused themselves by staring around the lavishly furnished office. The Negative Kaiba, for one, seemed unimpressed; Yugi and Joey, however, were fascinated.

Quite unexpectedly, there was a knock at the door. Seto's work lurched to a halt, and he stood up quickly, murmuring, "Come in." 

The door cracked open a fraction, and a small figure stepped in. His messy black hair and long bangs made his face seem slightly paler than it actually was, but made his dark, grey eyes almost shine. His attire had changed since Yugi had last seen him; it was no longer a costume and consisted of a casual, striped shirt, a pair of jeans, and sneakers. Under his arm, he carried a roll of bandages and a first-aid kit. 

"Hey, big brother," he began, but halted abruptly. With his free hand, he rubbed his eyes, as if trying to scrub dirt out of them, and stared about the room again. "Woah," he muttered, looking surprised. "I must be seeing things...there are _two _of my big brother in the room."

Yugi chuckled at Mokuba Kaiba's shocked expression. "You aren't seeing things," he said, laughing, "there really _are _two Kaibas in this room. See, this is--" he halted abruptly as he heard a startled, choking gasp behind him. Confused, he turned around in his chair, facing Seto and his opposite counterpart.

The Negative Kaiba had stood up, and was now staring at Mokuba in wide-eyed surprise. His body had gone rigid, and he was shaking slightly, while his breath had become quicker, more labored. After several seconds, he gasped slowly, "M...M...Mokuba?!"

The black-haired boy blinked in surprise before frowning. "Yeah, it's me," he said, confused. "What's the matter?"

The Negative teen opened his mouth to respond, but without warning his eyes rolled backwards into his head and he fell backwards, hitting the chair and sliding to the floor on the smooth material. 

Kaiba was shocked. "What happened?!" he hissed, coming quickly around the desk and pulling his opposite self back up to rest on the chair again. He frowned as he felt what had the suspicious shape of knives under the teen's trench coat, but said nothing.

Yugi, however, had suddenly slapped his forehead with his palm. "I'm such an idiot!" he snapped angrily, mostly to himself, before hastily moving to explain. "See, in _his _Realm, Mokuba was killed by Y--er, by their opponent over there."

Kaiba looked surprised, but quickly nodded and gave his Negative a glance, frowning again. Mokuba looked shocked, his wide eyes betraying his emotions. And within his soul room, Yami growled softly as his name was almost mentioned...growled, too, at the pain his own Negative self had managed to cause.

Joey muttered out loud, "Oh...so it's like seeing his little brother come back to life...you didn't expect it, did you?" The question was obviously addressed to Kaiba, who looked a bit surprised, but murmured in return, "I wouldn't have."

The Opposition Leader, meanwhile, began to groan softly, blinking his eyes open and staring around the room once more. His icy blue gaze fell on Mokuba once again, but now his shock had passed, and he seemed to understand that he was seeing the True Realm Mokuba, not his dead relative. Sighing, he sat back in his chair, his eyes roaming the room again with a slightly angry look in them.

Mokuba, meanwhile, frowned. "What's going on?" he asked, curious. "Why are there _two _of my big brother? And _where _am I dead?"

Joey laughed. "Here, kid, I'll explain it to you." the blonde teen quickly launched into a summarized account of Yugi's travels to the Negative Realm, giving Mokuba the details he needed. 

Meanwhile, Kaiba and Yugi had collected the medical supplies from Mokuba and were tending to the cuts that scored the Blue Eyes' arms. The Negative teen protested, but both Yugi and Kaiba together were too much for him, and he didn't bother to put up a struggle. Instead, he muttered under his breath as the other two bandaged the deeper cuts on his arms, covering the smaller and less-important ones with a simple disinfectant lotion.

Yami, in his soul room, had lost all connection to the physical world as he buried himself in his own thoughts. _Kaiba, being pulled from his own Realm into ours...it must be the work of the Balance theory._ He creased his brow thoughtfully before continuing. _But...I don't understand. How could _one _person who _isn't _a Millennium Item holder aid us against the Shadow Realm's overflowing power? It doesn't make sense..._he sighed, running a hand through his golden bangs. _There must be an answer...I'll find it._

Yugi, not hearing any of his darker half's thoughts, was continuing his conversation with the Negative Realm Kaiba as he cleaned another deep gash in the teen's arm. "What were you _doing _when you got dragged into our Realm?"

"I told you already," the Blue Eyes replied. "I was in the middle of a fight. The Hand of the Shadow had attempted a raid on one of our minor Opposition bases, trying to capture Yami back from us so they could destroy him and get the Puzzle. It was hell when they attacked," he muttered, shuddering slightly. "We didn't have enough men to face them. Yami wasn't at that particular base, of course, but the Hand wouldn't give up; they were relentless, murdering left and right. I was out in the middle of the battle when one of those silvery portals just opened up in front of me and--" suddenly he stopped, wide-eyed.

The Hikari he spoke to frowned slightly. "What's wrong?"

"I can't believe I didn't remember it sooner!" the Negative Seto hissed. "I remember now...the silver portal had _just _appeared in front of me, and I remembered that _you _had gone through the same thing. I remembered looking around quickly before stepping through; there were two other Realm Gates spaced out in the battle area."

"Temporary memory loss also goes along with traveling through a Realm Gate," Yugi reassured hastily. "It makes sense that you wouldn't remember until now."

The Opposition leader nodded slowly before tilting his head back against the chair's rest and closing his eyes to help him think. After a few seconds, he murmured slowly, "I wasn't the only one to come through."

The Light teen frowned, confused, at the statement. He heard his Yami murmuring as their mental link was established as well.

//I thought so. The Shadow Realm is too big for one person alone to handle, and especially one who doesn't even own a Millennium Item.//

/What?/

//Never mind, Aibou. Just ask him if he can remember who went through the other portals.//

Shrugging, Yugi closed the link and turned back to the Negative Kaiba, asking his Yami's question. "Do you know who was meant to go through those other portals you spotted?"

The Negative teen creased his brow slowly, muttering under his breath. His voice suddenly became louder until it was audible; Yugi listened intently. 

"Three portals. I went through one; the other two were near two of my best agents. Let me think...over to the left flank, Bakura was controlling that side...that's it, Bakura, he went through one of the Realm Gates. He didn't look too happy about it, but he was with Ryou when he went through, I'm sure...not like _your _travel, Yugi. The other person was on my right side, a few hundred yards away....Joey, that's it...Bakura and Joey."

Joey, returning from his explanation to Mokuba, looked a little surprised. "You mean, there's going to be _two _of _me?_" he asked.

Yugi nodded slowly, smiling a bit at his best friend's baffled look. 

The blonde teen, meanwhile, was thinking quickly. Finally he asked, "Well, if three of you came through, how come you didn't all come out at the same spot?"

The Negative Kaiba inspected the finishing touches of his bandages as he responded. "Remember, the Negative Realm is a reflection of _this _Realm. If the portals were spaced out _there, _they'll be spaced out _here, _too. I wouldn't be surprised if the other two from my Realm are already here."

Yugi blinked, frowning. "Well then...where _are _they? We have to find them, don't we?"

The Negative brunette frowned. "I wouldn't know," he said, slowly. "Joey may be my best agent, but I still don't know how he would react in a situation like this. As for Bakura, he's just as mysterious as the first day I met him, and Ryou even more so, though that's surprising."

Joey shrugged as well. "I don't know either," he muttered. "If this Negative Joey is my _opposite, _he'd have a completely different train of thought than I would. I have no idea where he'd go."

Yugi thought carefully, running over the personalities of the Negative Bakura and Joey he had met while traveling to the Negative Realm. He had to admit, the Negative Joey was going to be a problem...there were _far _too many locations he could have headed to. Sighing to himself, he turned to trying to figure out the Negative tomb robber's next move. At first, it seemed as if he couldn't come up with a single idea...but then, abruptly, he gave a mental start.

//What is it?// Yami asked, curious. He had contacted his Aibou once more.

/I don't know why I didn't think about it sooner, Yami./

//About what?//

/The Negative Bakura's location. He practically _gave _me the answer when I last met him./

//What do you mean, Aibou?// The darker spirit sounded interested, and Yugi hastened to explain.

/"If I ever cross into your Realm, Yugi, the other me had better watch out. I'll teach him a lesson about a yami/hikari relationship..." Those were his exact words, Yami./

//You've got to be trying to trick me.//

/No, I'm not, and you know it./

//Oh, great...I _know _how Bakura "teaches"...I think we're in for a bit of trouble, Aibou.//

Yugi sighed mentally and returned to his awareness, blinking around at all of his companions. Slowly, almost hesitantly, the Hikari muttered, "I...I think I know where the Negative Realm Bakura is."

*****

HCG: ^_^ ANOTHER CLIFF-HANGER, YUMETAKATO! HAHAHAHA!

NR Kaiba: x_X Too many capital letters....

HCG: *snickers* Well, anyway...that should satisfy the lot of you. Nope, NR Yami is _not _coming through to the True Realm, sorry to all you odd reviewers who seem to like him o_O;; Maybe if you're lucky and I'm in a good mood, you'll see him in later chapters...*evil grin*

NR Bakura: -_-;; Oh, goodie..

HCG: ^_^ AND, all you NR Bakura-lovers! That ought to make you REALLY happy, yes? NR Bakura IN the True Realm, AND being so noble that he has to go save TR Ryou from his super evil abusive yami! Awwww!

NR Bakura: o_O What the hell was that?

HCG: ^_^ You're just being so sweet! You realize you're probably gonna get a lot of hugs from people that love you just for acting like that, yes?

NR Bakura: O_O NO! NOOOO! *puts up an "Anti-Hug" shield* You'll never get me! NEVA! HAHAHAHAHAHAH!

HCG: O_O;; Um...wow....I didn't even know you were still capable of an evil laugh...

NR Bakura: ¬_¬;; 

HCG: ANYWAY! Thanks for being patient again, people ^_^;; This WOULD have been up by last Friday, but...well...my new Shonen Jump came in, and I kinda got side-tracked...*gleefully reads about Yami, Roronoa Zoro, Yoh, and Yusuke, her fave Shonen Jump characters*

Kaiba: o_O What about _me?_

HCG: Don't have the one with you in it yet. That's next month.

Kaiba: *sigh*

HCG: Anyway. Review, peoples! Keep up the good work...you've got me at 24 so far, let's get me even MORE reviews! HAHAHHAHAHAHAH!

NR Bakura: And you think I'M weird for having an evil laugh? ¬_¬;;


	4. Traitor and Thief

HCG: Aaaand, we're back for the long awaited chapter 4 of Negative Chaos...the one when NR Bakura and Ryou are introduced!

NR Bakura: *grins* Ah, my adoring fans all love me...I'm just so damned cool ^_~

HCG: *snickers* Of course you are! ^_^

NR Ryou: *dryly* Har, har. I, for one, think your readers/reviewers have bitten off more than they can chew when they requested myself and my yami make an appearance.

HCG: o_O;; NR Ryou? How'd you get here?

NR Ryou: My yami conveniently shares the same body as I do. He comes through the Realm Gate, so I do too.

HCG: Oooh...I see....well, in any case, I think I'm gonna have some fun writing up your personality *grins* I think the readers may be pleasantly shocked at the outcome...

Karma: But...didn't they see NR Ryou in "Shadow Turned Light"?

Kaiba: No, remember, he was either delirious and in pain, or JUST recovering from being sick and therefore not acting the same as usual. You know, how when you aren't feeling well you act way different than normal?

Karma: I...suppose...

HCG: But the point is, the readers HAVEN'T seen how NR Ryou acts yet. *evil grin*

NR Ryou: ¬_¬;;

HCG: Anyway, we shall now move onto the reviewers notes!

****

stupid kid 04 and blah ~ *blinks in confusion* You know...I'm not QUITE sure that you mentioned that you can't wait...could you perhaps say it again? 

****

Towairaito Zoon ~ I get the pun! I get the pun! *rolls on the floor, laughing*

Karma: ¬_¬;; You are in DESPRATE need of a Vanilla Coke...too bad you gave it up for Lent...*watches HCG as she continues to laugh hysterically*

****

Silver Fang ~ Everybody DOES need an evil laugh, it's true! Oh, and as for your "Kaiba name suggestion"--a good idea, but I've already had the name situation planned out for a while. Chapters 3 and 4 (and maybe a bit of 5) will have the "confusing" touch, but after that it should be relatively easy to understand. I think YOU'LL understand THIS more after you finish the chapter ^_^

****

Aibou ~ x_X Yeah, I had the same problem with those signs...though it took me, I dunno, three reviews before I actually realized that everything I wrote AFTER the signs had been completely erased -_-;; Oh, and NR Kaiba appreciates you feeling bad for him, because, well, nobody really mentioned him ^_^;;

NR Kaiba: *growls* Everybody loves _Bakura, _not _me! _

NR Bakura: *hugged* @_@ At least you don't get pounced on as much as I do! And I want a refund on that defective Anti-Hug Shield!

****

Wingleader Sora Jade ~ Yeah, True Realm Ryou probably WILL have a fit if he doesn't die of a heart attack first, XD. Oh, and yes, yes you're right! *repeats "Long Chapter is Good" over and over* And, here's a challenge for you: while editing this story, I ran over an accidental pun/weird similarity in the first bit that I hadn't noticed when I was writing it--it connects to chapter 1 of your story, "Visions of the Heart." Can you find it? ^_~

****

Daricio ~ So you predicted NR Kaiba's little misfortune, huh? Smart you are ^_~

NR Bakura: O_O;; They broke my defective Anti-Hug Shield with a _saw?! _Will the insanity never end?! 

HCG: I doubt it.

NR Bakura: *sighs* *signs his autograph for Daricio*

HCG: *reads over the rest of the review* And...you put me on your Fave Authors list? You admire my writing?! _You look up to me?! _WOW! 

NR Kaiba: *observing* Geeze, Daricio, you're making her head swell with pride. I wouldn't be surprised if she explodes from that growing ego in a few hours.

HCG: *still grinning* Seriously, though, I am honored that you'd say such a thing about me and my writing ^_^ Thanks!

ANYWAY...now that the notes are done, and I really have nothing else to say...well...shall we start the fic?

NR Bakura: Of course! I wanna kick that idiot True Self of mine's a--

HCG: *whacks him over the head with the keyboard* NO UN-NEEDED SWEARING! It's bad enough I put it in my actual stories, I don't want to hear it from you when you're off duty!

NR Bakura: @_@ Okay...

NR Ryou + Kaiba: *snicker*

HCG: Okay...Karma! Disclaimer!

Karma: Aaah, the dreaded disclaimer. As said previously, High Crystal Guardian does not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of it's characters. The plot, Negative Realm, and Negative personalities are credited to HCG, however, and she would greatly appreciate it if you ASKED before using them. As for myself, I _do _belong to Guardian. And Slash does too, though he's disappeared for the past few chapters and we're not sure where he went...

Kaiba: *breaks in* He's probably robbing some high-security area with Bakura again -_-;;

NR Bakura: o_O;;

HCG: Anyway! On to Chapter 4...first, notes!

/word/ ~ Yugi to Yami

//word// ~ Yami to Yugi

word ~ Ryou to Bakura

word ~ Bakura to Ryou

__

italics are thoughts or dreams/memories

As for Bakura...Ryou's the light side, Bakura's the darker half.

"hikari" un-capitalized will probably mean Ryou, while "Hikari" capitalized means Yugi

Another note, much the same as the last...confusing-ness enclosed in chapter! Again, there will be a meeting between two of the same person, so Negative characters will often be pointed out when I _say _"The Negative" or "The opposite." True Realm characters are referred to in a normal way. I swear, this is almost over! You'll see why at the end of the chapter ^_~

Oh, and I think it's pretty easy to see where this chapter is starting, but just to clarify..._True Realm _Ryou and Bakura first. And yes, I am just like all other Ryou/Bakura centered fic writers...although I DO have a much different ending than you'll probably find in all the other fics out there ^_^ And there's the obvious fact that it's not centered entirely around Ryou and Bakura, too...but....*gets pelted by reviewers with random objects* Okay, okay! I'll start the fic, I swear!

Negative Chaos

Chapter 4: Traitor and Thief

Ryou Bakura yelped in pain as he was thrown violently against the far wall for the third time in a row, sliding down the surface and crumpling in a heap at it's foot. The bitter taste of blood filled his mouth, and he hastily swallowed, the sticky substance taking it's time to roll down his throat and out of the way. Groaning, he curled up in a tight ball and fought the urge to leap up and run away from his attacker.

_Running only makes it worse, _he thought to himself, wincing as a sting of pain ran up his leg from one of the previous injuries. _When you run, you're in for double the punishment when he catches you._

Still moaning in pain, the white-haired teen raised his head slightly and glanced frantically around the room. A small trickle of blood slipped down into his eye, darkening his vision for a second, and he hastily blinked it out of the way in order to better his sight. Despite his efforts, it didn't do him much good; the room was completely pitch black, a result of the closed shades over the windows and the lights being turned off. He shuddered and huddled further into the wall, as if trying to transport himself through it. His yami had always enjoyed impairing his lighter half's vision in such ways as punishing him in the darkness--it made it easy to attack from any side without so much as a warning for his victim, thus increasing the pain and the terror. 

Abruptly, Ryou's yami--Bakura--seemed to grow out of the darkness, the gloom practically clinging to him as he paced forward. The spirit possessed the same silver-white hair as his hikari, though it was more sharply spiked and in some places resembled down-curved horns, like that of a demon. Narrowed brown eyes and a deadly, serious grin completed his facial look, and his clothes were the same as that of his host's--a simple tee-shirt and jacket, with light blue jeans and sneakers. A copy of the Millennium Ring, hanging around his neck, glowed dangerously.

The yami began to speak in a harsh, growling voice. "Well, well," he hissed, directing his speech towards the huddled Light soul on the ground at his feet. "So you finally built up the guts to disobey me, did you? I promise you, you will suffer for it."

_He speaks as if I haven't already, _Ryou thought to himself bitterly, careful not to let the thoughts travel across the mind-link. Despite his thoughts, however, he said nothing.

Bakura gave a half-hearted kick, aimed at his host's side, though he looked almost bored. "Now, _Ryou, _why _did _you disregard my orders?" The words had a dangerous tone woven into them, and the lighter of the two whimpered slightly, frightened.

"What did I do?" the hikari managed to gasp, forcing himself to sit up, but carefully keeping his eyes downcast to prove his yami's dominance. 

"What did you do?!" Bakura yelled suddenly, his hissing voice nearly rising to a shriek. "What did you _do?!_" He yelled again, his eyes blazing in a fiery brown inferno. Without warning, he shot his hand down, grasping his host by the neck and closing his hand tightly. His grip firm, he half-pulled, half-lifted the younger boy to his feet, forcing him to stand on his toes or be strangled. His breathing becoming harder, Ryou quickly allowed his yami to jerk him upward, going limp and giving no struggle whatsoever. He only concentrated on breathing, a feat within itself. Noticing this, Bakura lessened his grip by a fraction, and Ryou gasped gratefully. It was still hard to get the air he needed, but he was no longer cut off from his oxygen supply as before, and that made all the difference. 

"I'll tell you what you did," his yami continued, growling softly and cracking the fingers on his free hand. "You went to that party I told you specifically _not _to go to. You _heard _me restrict you from it, and you went anyway. _You do not disobey the rules that I give you!_" To emphasize his point, Bakura pulled his hand--still holding Ryou's neck--backwards, slamming him into the wall again with force. The poor teen's head whipped painfully, and a shiver of agony ran down his spine. The tomb robber, ignoring his lighter half's new groan of pain, brought his face very close to the other boy's, burning eyes meeting soft innocent ones. "_Do you understand me?!"_

Ryou nodded vigorously, even _that _small movement sending bolts of pain swimming through his head. "I do, I swear! Please, please just stop!" He winced again, clamping his eyes shut as his darker half began to speak menacingly once more. 

"No," Bakura hissed, his tone decisive, almost taunting. "No, I don't think you did understand me. Perhaps I should continue with our little lesson, then." A small, twisted grin appeared on the thief's face, and he reached into his back pocket with his free hand.

_Oh, no,_ Ryou thought to himself suddenly, his eyes widening in fear. _God, no. He's...he's going for his knife..._another whimper of terror, strangled sounding, escaped his throat, before he suddenly went mute, as though his mind had shut his voice off. 

The grin of his yami widened considerably, and his hand began to withdraw from his pocket. A small glint of light, a reflection of the Millennium Ring's glow, glimmered on the blade of a long, freshly-sharpened knife. Eyes now burning, the spirit brought the knife closer to his host, ignoring the squirming of the teen as he tried desperately to wrench away from where the blade met flesh.

"Enjoy your lesson," Bakura hissed, as he began to place pressure on where the knife tip rested--somewhere around the base of Ryou's neck, though not too close to his throat. A small flow of blood began to seep out of the cut, and the white-haired teen bit his lip in preparation for the pain that would come within seconds...

...And felt a flood of relief as, unexpectedly, the doorbell rang, it's chime resounding through the house like an angel's harp. 

Bakura withdrew the knife as if it had been yanked out of his hand, jerking his head to look over his shoulder towards the door. The small glass pane set into the top of the door showed a small flurry of movement outside, and a dim outline of a figure, though the glass was frosted and did not show detail well--it was impossible to identify the person standing on the doorstep.

Cursing, the tomb robber released his hold on Ryou's neck, letting the boy drop unceremoniously to the floor. "Get up," he hissed angrily, giving his host one last, vicious kick. "Answer that. Get rid of whoever it is quick. We haven't finished our lesson for the day." The last word was said with a sneer, before the physical appearance of the spirit faded away into the air--he had returned to the Ring.

Still gasping, Ryou managed to pull himself to his feet and half stumble towards the door. He wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or angry about the interruption; though the beatings he had been receiving had halted, they would begin as soon as the person had left, and would probably be stronger, now that his yami was angry. 

Sighing, he reached the door, flipping on one of the light switches quickly and observing himself in the hall mirror. He looked a bloody mess, literally; he hastily grabbed a towel from the nearby bathroom, wiping his face off. The bruises he couldn't do much about; they would just have to be seen by the visitor. Thankfully, there weren't many in plain sight.

Allowing himself one last groan, he forced himself to give a weak smile for the benefit of the visitor and pulled the heavy door open quickly. His grin froze as he saw the figure on his doorstep, and his eyes quickly widened in shock and fear.

Bakura, narrowed eyes steady, was leaning casually against the door frame.

_Oh, God, _Ryou's thoughts screamed frantically at him. _God, no, this isn't real. This is a joke. This is another of his cruel ways to mess with my mind. God, no, no...this isn't happening, this can't be real..._he was startled to find himself trembling in fear, and hastily backed up a step. 

Bakura's face instantly changed to one of concern. "What's the matter? Are you okay?" He seemed to be working a kind, gentle tone into his voice, as if attempting to calm the terrified Light across from him down. 

If anything, it succeeded in frightening the hikari more. He was shaking violently now, his innocent brown eyes wide as saucers. _He really _is _messing with my mind...he only _ever _acts kind when he's about to give me the worst beatings of my life...oh, God, please, please don't hurt me anymore, I can't deal with this! _A low whimper of terror forced it's way out of Ryou's clamped mouth, and his shaking intensified.

Bakura's look of confusion increased at the Light's reactions to his comforting words, before a frown dominated his expression. His detail-oriented eyes flickered over the white-haired teen's face, instantly noticing the dark colored bruises, and paying particular attention to the new trickle of blood coursing down from his forehead to his cheek, next to one of his eyes. 

"Those are fresh," the tomb robber said abruptly. "Is somebody hurting you in there? And if so, who?"

Ryou's eyes widened more. _What is he trying to do? _He kept his question to himself, however, and muttered with a confused and frightened tremble in his voice, "You...did...Master.."

Bakura's eyes narrowed almost instantly. "_Master?_ And you're saying _I've _been doing this?" At the Light's nod, he continued, his voice gaining a powerful growling sound. "That bastard True Self of mine! I'll kill him!"

Ryou let out a yelp of surprise at the yami's anger, and hastily backed up a step, his eyes instinctively lowering. Bakura, not giving him the chance to get away, leaped forward into the house. He grasped at Ryou's Millennium Ring in one hand, pressing two fingers on his second hand to the white-haired teen's forehead, just below a small cut he had received earlier. Whimpering again, Ryou tried to tear away from the tomb robber's grasp and prepare for another beating at the same time. 

To his surprise, it never came. Instead, the spirit across from him hissed loudly, "Get out here, you fool!" The sentence was followed by a brief surge of power, flowing from the yami's Millennium Ring, through his fingers on the younger teen's forehead, and into the second ancient Item. Both Rings glowed brightly before a great flash of light pierced Ryou's eyes, and he was forced to close them quickly against the blinding glare.

When he opened his eyes again, a new, startling scene met his vision. Bakura had released him and was staring angrily off to Ryou's side; turning his eyes, the Light soul saw...no, it couldn't be true, his eyes must have been playing tricks on him...saw _another _Bakura, standing with a confused frown at the duplicate across from him. 

"What in Amun-Ra's name is going on here?" the frowning Bakura--_his _yami, Ryou could sense--growled, clenching a fist angrily.

"That," the second tomb robber spat, "is very much what I would like to know." He cut off his look-alike before the spirit had a chance to respond. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"I don't know who, or what, you are--but what I'm doing is my own damned business!" the first Bakura replied, eyes narrowing even more. 

"Then you had better start to fix your business before it ends completely," the second of the two spirits hissed angrily. "You have no right to treat your hikari that way. He's a living person, you fool--he's not some trash that you can throw around and away at will." Ryou's eyes widened at the statement, and his breathing quickened...was he hearing things correctly? He quickly snapped to attention as the second tomb robber continued speaking. "Now, what do you plan to do about your little abusive problem?"

Ryou's own yami grinned sickeningly. "How about...I decide it's time for you to leave?" Before the second spirit had a chance to react, the abusive version of Bakura leaped forward, slamming into his duplicate and shoving him violently out the door. Without waiting, he slammed the heavy door shut and locked it before whirling around to face his Lighter half. "Now then--"

He never got the chance to finish. With an almighty bang and an equally loud crash, the door exploded inward on it's hinges, revealing the second Bakura, standing coldly and with Millennium Ring glowing like frozen fire. 

"_That,_" the second dark being hissed, "was your last chance. I think it's time that _you _learned a few things, don't you agree?" With a roar, he leaped forward in a dazzling flash of light, darting straight for Ryou's own yami with the Millennium Ring glowing dangerously. 

The white-haired hikari whirled around as the second of the two thieves dashed by him, instinctively crushing himself to the wall so as to avoid any pain. The tomb robber was not interested in hurting _him, _however, but rather was drawing back his fist to lash out at the first, abusive yami. 

He connected in a thunderbolt, snapping the first Bakura's head back on impact and making him stumble. Not waiting, he continued his furious assault, but the first yami was regaining his balance and awareness and was starting to block, adding attacks of his own. Growling, the second, kinder tomb robber stepped back a pace, yelling angrily as a beam of light collected in front of the pointers on his Millennium Ring and shot at his opponent. With a yell of unexpected pain, the first Bakura stumbled backwards, into the hall, and showed his defiance by throwing a household object at his enemy. The second tomb robber dodged quickly and shot forward, ramming into his opposite and sending him flying backwards, adding to the abusive yami's distance by giving him a strong kick as well. The first Bakura hit the floor with a growl, sliding fully down the hall and rolling halfway into the next room. Eyes narrowed dangerously, the second of the two dark spirits followed him into the new room, and within moments the sounds of yelling and banging could be heard as the fight was taken to higher, more dangerous levels.

Ryou stared in complete silence down the now-demolished hallway, his pure shock practically vibrating in the air around him. His reaction was broken, however, when he heard a hauntingly familiar voice behind him, in the direction of the doorway. 

"Bit direct, aren't they? Must be a universal trait they _both _inherited."

Blinking in surprise, the white-haired teen whirled around quickly and stared in brand-new surprise. Leaning casually against the broken door frame was...was _himself._

"Wh...what?!" Ryou managed to stutter, his mouth hanging open at the odd sight. The _other _him didn't seem to notice his confusion and discomfort, as he had continued speaking without a pause.

"Me'n Yami didn't like to hear of his abuse problem in _this _Realm, so when we figured out we had traveled here, we decided to put an end to it. Got here just in time, too, I'm guessing," he added, his eyes flickering over the unchecked trickle of blood down the side of Ryou's face. "Looks like he was up to his old tricks."

In reply, the beaten teen nodded weakly, muttering, "Th...thanks..."

His opposite frowned. "Hey, are you okay? You look like you're about to fall over. How much _did _he do to you?"

Ryou shook his head vigorously, ignoring the splitting headache that formed when he did so. "Not much...I was lucky you came so soon. He didn't get the chance to use his knife on me..." He shuddered visibly an groaned a bit, stepping backwards a pace.

His own duplicate across from him widened his eyes ever so slightly in surprise, before they fell into their original frown. "Okay, at least that's good. But what _else _is the matter? There's something on your mind. What's wrong?"

To his surprise, a half sarcastic thought wormed it's way into the abused teen's mind. _Am I _all right? _I've just gotten a painful beating from my yami, suddenly discovered a second of the same being facing _and _defending me, and now I'm talking to an exact replica of myself! Do I _look _all right?! _

His answer, however, took a more polite tone. "I'm fine, thanks...but...but this is just all too weird."

Some how, the words seemed to fit the picture exactly.

*****

Yugi tramped hastily down the steps of the bus and waited impatiently for the rest of his companions--Joey, Mokuba, and both versions of Kaiba--to follow him. They, too, left the vehicle quickly, each sharing a similar look of worry.

Without hesitation each member of the group turned and headed in one direction--towards Ryou Bakura's house, only a few blocks away. As they ran, Yugi hastily explained to the True Kaiba about the Negative Realm Bakura, along with a brief outline of his travels into the Negative Realm. Kaiba's opposite would occasionally add a few details to the story, but for the most part he left the tale to the young Hikari.

Joey, too, was listening to the explanation. As Yugi began to explain about the Negative tomb robber's angry reactions to hearing about himself acting abusive, the blonde teen spoke up. "If this Negative Bakura wants to stop his True Realm self from being abusive towards Ryou, how could that possibly be bad?"

Yugi sighed. "Even if his intentions are good, keep in mind that we _are _still talking about Bakura, Negative or not. When he fights another spirit, he's _bound _to put a lot of power into it, and there's no telling how the _True _Bakura will act. It could end up in an explosive battle, and Ryou might be caught in the middle of it--_both _of them."

Joey frowned, the realization suddenly coming to him. "Oh, man," he muttered, "this could turn out ugly, then." Unconsciously, he put on an extra burst of speed, pushing himself ahead of Kaiba, who was at the front of the small procession.

After several more minutes of running down streets and around corners, the group suddenly found themselves at the driveway of Ryou's house. A gasp rippled around the five of them, and within his soul room, Yami echoed the sound with a second. 

The house looked almost clean, at first glance. On closer inspection, however, one could see that the door had been blown inward, completely off it's hinges, in what looked like a high-leveled blast of magic. 

"Oh, no," Yugi groaned in worry, a frown deepening his face as he stared at the broken door frame. "We got here _after _the others..."

The Negative Kaiba sighed. "Bakura _does _have a reputation for getting a little...shall we say..._over-enthusiastic_...around the Opposition base..." Without meaning too, the usually emotionless face twisted into a grimace.

The Millennium Puzzle swinging gently around Yugi's neck abruptly began to glow, and within moments a physical body had suddenly appeared and taken shape in front of them. Yami, now free of the Puzzle once again, began to approach the doorway slowly, murmuring gravely, "I will go first, in case they are battling. If they are using any kind of dangerous magic, I will be able to defend the rest of you against it."

The others nodded and crowded behind the Pharaoh, though the Negative version of Kaiba stood noticeably over to one side, as if still trying to avoid getting too close to the spirit. Sighing a little at the sight of the opposite figure, Yami moved forward and through the door frame into the hallway of the house. 

As soon as he entered, he could practically _sense _the different atmosphere within the building. Broken objects lined the walls, as though they had fallen, shattered, and were instantly neglected. A few drops of blood spattered the floor, though it was surprisingly scarce. He could feel, too, the presence of Shadow magic, and of one that had tapped into it's huge quantities in order to fight. Frowning, he glanced around the room, searching carefully, as though trying to spot clues that were invisible.

"Ryou?" Yugi, behind him, called into the house, also looking around curiously.

"Hey, in here--living room," a voice called out from within the depths of the house. It sounded laid back, almost casual.

Frowning, Yami stepped aside and allowed the others to pass by him, sensing no immediate danger nearby. Yugi scampered down the hall quickly, followed just as fast by Mokuba. Kaiba, both versions of him, walked almost lazily down the hallway, as though they weren't seeing the scattered, broken objects lining the floors. Joey frowned as he looked around the tattered corridor, but said nothing, walking after the others, with Yami bringing up the rear of the small group.

As they stepped into the next room, all five of the group was instantly greeted with a calm-looking room. It evidently had not been touched by the problem that had reached the hallways; it looked almost normal, and didn't seem as if it should be part of the house after everything else they had seen. If the room appeared normal, however, it's occupants most certainly did not.

There were two figures sitting in the room, looking identical and very recognizable with their silver-white hair and brown eyes. One was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room, shock plain on his face. His clothes were simple; a light colored tee-shirt, jacket, and jeans, with the Millennium Ring hanging gently around his neck. His skin sported a few bruises and cuts, which had obviously been cleaned, and one or two bandaged. He was sitting very still, almost rigid, and was staring at the floor, his bewildered expression strong and easily seen. He was easily recognized as Ryou.

The second was an odd contrast to the first, despite their identical appearance. Though he, too, wore the Millennium Ring, his clothes were all dark in color, giving him an air that suggested he was not to be trifled with. A dark grey tee-shirt and long, baggy black pants adorned his figure, and a heavy leather jacket, it's length coming down to mid-upper leg, swept over his frame. A small, silvery chain ran from near his waist belt-loop down in a loose curve before running up and slipping into one of his back pockets, half hidden by his jacket. Even his expressions and facial features differed slightly; his eyes, though still harboring the innocent, friendly look, were also narrowed and suspicious, even dangerous looking to a certain extent. Unlike the first Ryou, he sat on a couch casually, as if he was planning on doing nothing more than kicking back and relaxing for the day.

It was this second version of Ryou that spoke. "So you figured out where we were heading, did you?" He asked evenly, his tone friendly. He glanced over Yugi quickly before adding, "Well, in any case, it's nice to see you again. And it's nice to meet the rest of you." His eyes roamed over Joey, Kaiba, and Mokuba easily. Everything about him, even his movements, seemed casual, but at the same time wary--as if he were made of liquid steel.

Joey blinked in surprise, his eyes flickering from the first Ryou to the second, calm one. After a few seconds, he spoke. "You're the Negative Ryou, aren't you?"

The opposite hikari chuckled easily, replying, "I am at that. I guess I stand out, compared to my True self." He glanced towards the still shocked Ryou before plucking absent-mindedly at the chain connected loosely to his belt-loop, his eyes now changing to glance around the remainder of the group. 

Noticing the Negative Kaiba, he abruptly nodded respectfully, showing his recognition of the Blue Eyes. When the leader nodded back, he spoke, a questioning tone in his voice. "So, _you're _here, but have you found the Joey from _our _Realm yet?"

The Opposition leader shook his head. "Not yet," he said, frowning slightly. "We only just figured out where you and Bakura would be."

The Negative Ryou shrugged. "It makes sense," he said calmly, settling back into the couch pillows.

Yugi had taken to observing the True Ryou, who had not broken out of his shock. He frowned, asking slowly, "What happened to him?"

The opposite Ryou, following Yugi's gaze, shrugged again. "We found him getting a major beating from _his _version of our yami, which explains the cuts he has. The shock," he added, somewhat sarcastically, "would be from the fact that he saw his yami attack his yami, which was soon followed by a conversation with an exact duplicate of himself--me."

Yami, who was still standing unseen at the back of the group, was suddenly reminded of their original reason for coming when the Negative teen had spoken. Pushing gently through the group, he came to stand in front of them, directing his question to the other Realm hikari. "You mentioned the Bakuras. Where are they now?"

The Negative Ryou focused on Yami for the first time since the group had entered the house. His eyes flickered briefly, and he flinched slightly, but his rock-steady, cool expression never once wavered. "They're both...well, I guess you could say they're caught up at the moment. Fighting each other, that is." He chuckled slightly, checking his watch as he added, "They've probably dragged it out to the backyard by now."

The entire group, besides the Negative Kaiba, stared at this casually-delivered comment's owner in surprise. Before they could say anything, however, a loud _bang _was heard coming from the direction of the back of the house, and the whole building seemed to vibrate slightly.

"And _that,_" the Negative Hikari said easily, "would be _my _yami throwing _his _yami against the side of the house." He jerked his right-handed thumb towards the True Ryou to emphasize his point, and for the first time Yugi noticed one black leather glove encasing the opposite's hand, like that of a fencing glove. 

"How do you know it's _your _version of Bakura that did the throwing?" Joey asked skeptically, eyeing the white-haired opposite with suspicion.

The Negative laughed, pointing to his head with his gloved hand. "Mind link," he stated calmly. "After that bang, Bakura started laughing." Another _bang _shook the house, and the opposite hikari winced slightly. "And _that _was _his_ yami getting revenge."

The second bang seemed to draw the stunned True Ryou out of his shocked stare, and he looked up, blinking as he saw the group of people gathered in his living room. "What?" he murmured softly, before seeing Yugi's reassuring smile and calming down. He didn't stop eyeing his opposite, however, and looked more confused than anything else.

The Negative Kaiba spoke up abruptly. "Shall we go stop those two spirits before they tear the house down?" he asked, his voice hinting at the slightest bit of sarcasm. 

Yugi chuckled weakly. "Yeah, that would probably be a good idea," he said agreeably, adding in his head, _because they probably _would _demolish the house if they kept at it for long enough._

Turning, Yugi, followed by his darker half, trotted quickly down the hall, following the path of demolished items until he reached the back doorway. He stepped out the opening and blinked as a glare of sunlight streamed down on him before pacing into the grass of the backyard, looking around carefully. Behind him, Yami also stepped out into the yard, followed by the Ryous, Kaibas, Joey, and Mokuba.

The first sight that greeted them was the flurry of silver-white hair as two figures fought dangerously only a few yards away. It was obvious that they were the two different versions of Bakura instantly; despite their quick movement, their spiked demon hair was unmistakable. The True Realm Bakura wore the copies of his host's light-colored clothes, while the Negative looked in his element in his own aibou's dark, dangerous-looking outfit. They both tore at each other angrily, and both sported vicious cuts and bruises, though of course in the end the wounds wouldn't effect them, as they were spirits in temporary physical forms. Each had a brightly-glowing Millennium Ring at their disposal, as well, which they were both currently using to attack each other.

"You _don't abuse your Aibou!_" the Negative tomb robber hissed, as he dodged a blast from the opposing Ring and launched an attack of his own.

"Do you think I care?! He's _my _business, and what I want to do to him I can very well do, no questions asked!" The True version replied hotly, growling as he dashed forward to try and connect a punch successfully. 

Yami watched the fight in surprise, paying particular attention to the Negative Bakura. He couldn't believe his eyes; _Bakura, _defending _Ryou?_ It seemed impossible...without thinking, he mentioned his thoughts. "This is odd...it's strange, seeing a _kind _Bakura for once."

The Negative Ryou, standing next to him, answered dryly. "I know what you mean. It's interesting to see you _sane _for once."

The Pharaoh growled angrily at the insult, but abruptly his rage melted away and he murmured, "I deserved that." He allowed himself an inward smile at the white-haired opposite's surprise, but outwardly kept his face stone-hard.

The True Ryou, meanwhile, was watching the thief battle with obvious shock. "I...I can't believe that...that he's actually fighting to _defend _me..." he blinked, watching with growing hope as the other Realm Bakura managed to connect one of his Millennium Ring blasts with his opponent.

The Negative Ryou grinned as he watched the fight, as though it was some form of entertainment. "Yeah, he's fighting for you, and he's going to _win, _too. He's bound to win, eventually; there's no question about it."

"Actually..." the opposite Kaiba muttered slowly, cutting into the conversation.

"What?" 

The Blue Eyes shook his head. "It would be impossible for Bakura to beat his True Self, and vice versa. Theoretically, it can't be done."

Yugi frowned. "Why?"

The Opposition leader sighed. "Have you ever played a game of chess against yourself?" He saw the True Kaiba's eyes light up in understanding, and continued. "Whenever you try to come up with a strategy to defeat your opponent, they _always _know how to stop it, because your opponent is _you._ Likewise, a person of the Negative Realm would never be able to defeat his or her counterpart in the True Realm, simply because they _are _the same person. They have the same thoughts, the same material of the soul, and so any battle to occur between them would end up in a standstill."

"Or," Kaiba added, catching onto the theory easily, "the two of them would destroy each other completely at the same time."

"Which is still technically a standstill," the Negative CEO finished.

Joey frowned. "Oh, man," he muttered, "if that's the case, then we gotta get those two to stop fighting right _now._"

The Negative Ryou sighed. "That is going to be a rather difficult task, but I think we can manage." He turned to face the two battlers, raising his voice and yelling. "Oy! Bakura!"

Deep within the fight, the darkly dressed spirit leaped to the side, dodged an attack, and retaliated, slamming a punch home into his opposite's head. "Kinda busy right now, Ryou, get back to you later!" His voice cut short as he took an unfortunate blow to the stomach, delivered by an annoyed True Realm thief. 

"Er...so that didn't work," Mokuba muttered, making Yugi jump--he'd forgotten the boy was there, he'd been so caught up in the fight and the conversations.

"No, it did not," the Negative hikari said, rolling his eyes and sighing. "Okay, we'll try option number two--the mind link."

Retreating into his mind was no easy task, considering the action that was going on around him, but the opposite Ryou managed. He quickly set up a mind link to his darker half, contacting him hastily.

Bakura?

What is it, Ryou? I'm just a _bit _busy at the moment, if you haven't noticed. The mental voice sounded a bit annoyed.

I did notice, Ryou replied dryly, and that's the reason I'm contacting you. You have to stop fighting.

What in Amun-Ra's name would possess me to do a fool thing like that?!

There is the minor fact of your existence, you know.

What?

The lighter half sighed mentally. You can't beat your counterpart in another Realm. You're the same person, and apparently the Realms just don't work that way. If you _do _fight each other, you'll either always come to a standstill, or you'll both kill each other at the same time.

Ah, I can see how that would cause a problem. Very well, I'll break off the fight...just give me a chance to find a suitable moment.... The link cut off, and the opposite Ryou returned to his awareness outside his own mind.

The Negative Bakura was slowing, his movements becoming more slurred and his attacks less powerful. Abruptly, he broke off altogether, trotting easily towards his Light and leaving his other version standing in the middle of the yard, alone. Not even glancing back, he came to rest beside his hikari, standing with arms crossed almost protectively, and began to scan the people in the group calmly.

Seeing the Opposition leader, he, too, nodded respectfully, as his lighter half had. His eyes continuing to rove, he glanced over the True Kaiba and Mokuba easily, and frowned quickly at Joey before realizing that he wasn't the version from the Negative Realm. He noticed Yugi almost immediately and murmured a polite, friendly greeting, before turning his eyes on the figure standing next to him. 

He stiffened almost as soon as his eyes made contact; he was staring at Yami, his brown eyes smoldering like coals. It was obvious that he recognized the ancient Pharaoh as the kinder, True version, but nevertheless he couldn't get the memory of his aibou's suffering out of his head. 

Trying to put on a kinder, well received act, the Negative Bakura nodded politely and murmured, "Pharaoh," respectfully, though it seemed forced.

"Bakura," Yami returned, also nodding his respect, though it again seemed forced. 

The odd meeting between two ancient spirits was broken abruptly as the True Realm Bakura took a step towards the gathering, sneering, "Well, well, why did the little imposter run away? Was he nervous that he might loose?"

The Negative Bakura, in turn, sneered right back. "I have no time for fools that want to call themselves a yami spirit," he hissed towards his opposite self. "I left the fight on the request of my Aibou. At least I have enough respect for him to do so. Unlike _somebody _I know."

The True thief laughed tauntingly, jeering, "Hah! You can't stand up to me. Just _try _to take me on, I dare you."

To the surprise of all, the Negative Ryou stepped forward to face his opposite yami, speaking in a cold, level voice. "_My _yami is being the responsible one out of you two again. By not fighting, he's ensuring that you _both _live to see another day. You should be lucky he backed out--he's saving _your _skin." He growled softly before changing suddenly to a chuckle, adding, "Though it's a pity, really. I was _so _looking forward to seeing my yami rip your guts out, you abusive freak."

The shock that came from this statement lasted for a full minute. It was particularly strong for Ryou, who could not believe he was hearing such words coming from his own mouth--albeit his in another Realm--although the True Bakura had his own share of surprise, hearing such a phrase coming from his normally kind hikari.

Slowly, the shock on the tomb robber's face faded away and was replaced by a grin. "Why, did I just hear a challenge?"

The Negative Ryou replied casually, matching the True spirit in an equally calm-sounding manner. "Perhaps it was."

Bakura laughed. "I see," he hissed, still chuckling. "I was just double checking, you understand. It's not every day you hear such things coming from a weakling like you. It is, after all, obvious that you could _never _beat me."

The opposite Ryou, surprisingly, stepped forward angrily, raising his gloved fist in an angry gesture and growling, "Would you like to make a bet on that?!"

The True Ryou's jaw nearly dropped in shock as he watched _himself _threatening his _yami._ Vaguely he felt a sense of relief, as though he had been looking forward to seeing such a thing for quite some time but could never work up the nerve to achieve it.

The Negative Ryou, meanwhile, had taken a few extra paces forward threateningly, fist still raised. Before he could get far, however, his _own _yami sighed, rolled his eyes, and reached out his hand, grasping his light's jacket collar and holding him in place. "You can't attack him yet, Ryou, we're a bit busy at the moment," he muttered, sounding almost bored. The opposite hikari allowed himself to be pulled back, shooting the True Bakura a rather nasty grin to make up for it.

Bakura, in response, paced forward angrily, heading for his own host with a burning look in his eyes. The True Ryou was beginning to look increasingly nervous, and backed up a step. Before the tomb robber was allowed to get even slightly close, however, Yami suddenly stepped in the way, arms folded and with a calm, steady gaze in his eyes.

"Go back to your soul room, thief," he said, an air of control hovering about him.

"As if you can control me, _Pharaoh,_" the spirit snapped back mockingly in reply. 

In response, both the Negative Ryou and Bakura stepped forward on either side of Yami, enforcing his command. Yami, taking advantage of the moment, repeated softly, "Go back to your soul room. Now."

Bakura hissed in vexation as he glared in hate at the three hard faces confronting him. He finally sighed, seeing no way out, and faded away, returning to the Ring.

When the spirit had left, his opposite counterpart sighed in annoyance and rubbed his forehead angrily. This action completed, he turned to the Pharaoh and muttered under his breath, "Thanks." Again, the word sounded forced, but Yami said nothing--he understood the tomb robber's distrust, and therefore did not mind.

The Negative Ryou, meanwhile, was calmly heading back into the house as though nothing had happened. The others quickly followed him into the living room, where he lead them, most carrying some sort of expression of surprise or nervousness. Only the Negative beings, along with the ever-calm Yami, showed no reaction whatsoever.

As they reached the living room once again, the opposite Ryou flopped down in his original seat, casual-looking once again. His yami sat down next to him, also carrying the nearly lazy look, and the True Ryou, after a nervous glance at the tomb robber, filled the third seat. The rest of the group found seats spaced out through the room, while Yami remained standing by his own Light's seat. 

"What is going _on?_" Ryou asked abruptly, giving the Negative yami next to him another nervous glance. The opposite Bakura raised an eyebrow at the hikari's reactions, though said nothing.

"I never _did _tell you my story, Ryou," Yugi said hastily, apologetic tone in his voice. "See, a few months back, I went to a completely different Realm--the Negative Realm. It's an opposite reflection of the True Realm--where _we _live--but you still exist there, though with a different personality or with different actions taken by you. _Those _two," he said, indicating the Negative Ryou and Bakura, "are from the Negative Realm. _That _Ryou is still you, but he's your reflection, your opposite. Likewise, _that _Bakura is the opposite of _your _yami--which explains why he tried to beat the crud out of him," he finished, giggling slightly. Again, the opposite yami raised an eyebrow, looking slightly amused.

The Negative Ryou broke into the conversation, adding, "So you can stop giving Bakura the watchful eye. Believe me, he was _furious _to hear that he would ever _think_ of abusing you, in any Realm. As you no doubt saw." He paused for a second to register his True self's relieved look before adding, "And don't worry, he won't lay a finger on you unless it's for your own personal safety."

The Negative Bakura nodded in agreement, staring at his True Realm aibou calmly. "And," he spoke, "I won't let that son of a bitch True Realm self of mine touch you, either."

Ryou looked a little surprised, but he nodded gratefully, suddenly finding himself growing to like the opposite version of his yami.

Yugi now found his own chance to talk, directing his comment to the Negative hikari. "So, Ryou, I'm guessing you've fully recovered since the last time I saw you?"

"I have," the white-haired opposite murmured, giving Yami the smallest of glances. "Thanks to you, anyway."

The Negative Bakura, sensing his aibou's small feeling of discomfort as he glanced at the Pharaoh across from him, almost unconsciously fixed Yami with a burning glare. His gaze never once wavered, and the spirit of the ancient ruler receiving the smoldering gaze sighed. 

"I assure you," he said slowly, returning the tomb robber's gaze, "that I am nothing like the version of me you so despise. I, too, have a deep hate of my Negative self, but do not turn your anger on _me._ I had no part in causing your troubles, and I would appreciate it if you did not throw your blame on me. Unless you wish for _me, _in turn, to hand you back the blame of yourself in this Realm."

"It is hard to ignore an old instinct," the opposite thief muttered back, still watching Yami angrily. "I will, however, put more effort into seeing you as an ally, and not an enemy." Yami nodded in agreement, and the two parted stares at the same time, almost instantly.

Silence filled the room as each of the members in the group retreated to their own thoughts. Suddenly, however, Yugi broke through it, his voice sounding slightly louder than usual. "Er...I think we're going to have a small problem..."

"What's the matter?" Joey asked, frowning.

"Well..." the Hikari began, though slowly. "I just realized. We've got three groups of people that share the same name and all-around identity--Kaiba, Ryou, and Bakura. But we can't keep calling two people by the same name--it'll get too confusing."

The Negative Ryou shrugged. "That's easy enough to fix," he said, his voice even. "The three of us from the Negative Realm can just create new names--more like nicknames--for ourselves to use while we're here. In any case, it would be good for cover, in case we need to be secretive."

Yugi nodded. "That makes sense," he agreed cheerfully. "So...what are you guys going to pick for your True Realm names?"

The opposite Ryou thought to himself a moment, fiddling with the chain around his belt loop, before speaking. "I'll go with Kawari," he said easily. "It means 'alteration'...and I think it's safe to say that I'm _definitely _an alternate change from the True Ryou." He chuckled slightly and grinned at his other self, who smiled weakly back.

The Negative Bakura laughed as well. "An interesting way to choose a name, but a way that I like. In that case, shall we say my name will be....Kaeru? It means 'change,' which I approve of, as I am a change for the better, compared to that...other me." He managed to stifle the swear and replace it with his final two words, though it was obvious there was some effort in the attempt.

Each person's gaze now shifted to the Negative Kaiba, who looked deep in thought. After several moments of silence, he stated calmly, "Kaze."

"Wind?" his True counterpart asked, sounding skeptical. "What made you pick that?"

"Wind brings change, true, but it also brings hope, a feeling of one being able to achieve their destiny. As we were obviously brought here for a reason, it seems appropriate."

"So we're decided?" the newly-christened Kaeru asked calmly, still staring levelly around the room. The others nodded, and he sat back into the couch once more, satisfied.

"Now that _that's _been decided," Yugi said slowly, "what are we going to do about the Negative Joey?"

"You couldn't find him?" Kawari asked, frowning. 

"Not exactly...we weren't sure where he'd head to, where as you two were fairly obvious." Yugi grinned slightly at these last words.

"Ah," the Negative hikari mused, thinking carefully. "Now that you mention it, it _is _kind of hard to place where he would go. He _is _devoted to the Opposition, true, but he does enjoy having fun as well--there's no one place that should be checked." He sighed and shook his head. "I have no idea where to look."

The rest of the group frowned, each trying to come up with an answer. Suddenly, however, Kaeru spoke. "Joey...what is the last place in the city you'd want to go to?"

Joey looked a little surprised at the question, but answered quickly. "Anywhere that Kaiba is," he muttered sheepishly. Kaiba snorted angrily, though he also looked a bit amused, and Kaze had a confused expression on his face that was crossed slightly with annoyance.

"Anywhere that Kaiba is, huh?" Kaeru continued, musing. "Well, Kaiba would naturally be at his company. And the Negative Realm Joey, being _this _Joey's opposite, will probably be close to the one place that his True self doesn't want to be at."

"So we're heading back to KaibaCorp?" Mokuba piped up, from his position between the two versions of his older brother. 

"Indeed we are," Kaze said evenly, chuckling. "Very well thought out--_Kaeru._" He placed emphasis on the name, stressing it so as to lock it firmly into place for later.

As one, the group stood up together, turning towards the door to head back towards the high-ranking company building. Ryou, Kawari, and Kaeru found themselves becoming part of the group, eagerly joining in the search for the Negative Joey.

Within five minutes, the entire household was empty and silent, the entire band of hunters gone.

*****

HCG: What a crappy ending for this chapter.

Karma: *blinks* I don't think so.

HCG: It's crap. Don't argue with me.

Karma: o_O Okies...

HCG: Anyway, a few after-the-story notes:

1) Special thanks to "Vampire Huntress D" (who doesn't even read this story, XD) for helping me out with the name for Negative Kaiba.

2) Special thanks to the "Under-The-Stairs-Kids" at my school, who inadvertently modeled for Kawari's outfit. *laughs* And just so you know, the "Under-The-Stairs-Kids" are the group of teens that hang out at "The Stairs" and are your basic gothic, sometimes-druggy kids o_O;;

3) Okay, the three names are Japanese. Now, I don't pretend to be an expert on Japanese, or to even know much about the language like some of you *coughWSJcough*, but bear with me here. If the words I picked were messed up, well...bleh on you o_O;; I spent a lot of time thinking their names through, so...yeah.

4) Well, unless you take Fencing or know anything about it, you probably wouldn't understand the insult Kawari threw in there when he was threatening Bakura. In a fencing bout, it is _very _rude to shake your gloved hand at your opponent, or to shake hands with your opponent _with_ your gloved hand. As Kawari was making a threat implying a fight, he was, in a way, giving the finger--fencing style--to Bakura ^_^;;

5) This chapter was written by listening to heavy loads of Hoobastank, Bon Jovi, Eminem, and, for some reason, the Spirit: Stallion of the Cimeron soundtrack o_O;; As if any of you care. 

Yay, notes are done!

Kaeru: x_X I didn't even get to kill that idiot True Self of mine?!

HCG: Uh...no? Okay, to you reviewers...I know you were looking forward to the Negative beating up the True Bakura (nearly every one of you mentioned something like that in your reviews) but, well--I can't _seriously _do that to one of my fave characters. And in any case, I still need Bakura to be conscious for later in the fic, and that would be kind of hard if he got the beating that Bakuras normally give. And that just sounded weird o_O;;

Kaeru: *siiigh*

Kawari: Well, at least I had a more interesting part in this chapter. 

HCG: I know ^_^ I am going to have _sooo _much fun writing up your scenes....*grins*

Kawari: ¬_¬;; And I've yet to decide if that is a good or bad thing.

HCG: How could it possibly be bad?!

Kawari: Well, considering that you also enjoyed writing my scenes for "Shadow Turned Light"...

HCG: What about them?

Kawari: I just have chapters 3-6 very vividly in mind. Particularly 6.

HCG: O_O But that was my FAVORITE chapter to write! And I _loved _the mini-plot centered around you, when you were Mind-Lost and all...

Kawari: _;; Can we get off this subject?

HCG: *continues babbling* I particularly loved writing the scenes when you were seeing your memories over again, and Yugi saw them too...that took forever, but it came out really great, and--*WHACK*

Kawari: *sets down keyboard that was earlier used to attack Kaeru* Ah, quiet. Much better.

HCG: @_@;;

Kaeru: *nods approvingly* Not bad.

Kaiba: ¬_¬;; Anyway...review, people. We need some nice, big comments on this chapter. And keep'em coming, because I think it'll be a while before Guardian starts thinking strait again...

Kawari: *defensively* Well, it's not MY fault the keyboard is so _hard!_

Kaiba: *ignores* So just keep reviewing, and hopefully HCG will get back on track and bring you chapter five.


	5. Controller of the Realms

*Kaiba, HCG, Kawari, and Kaze are all standing on the side of the room, watching the back-and-forth movement in front of them--which turns out to be Kaeru chasing Bakura around with a baseball bat*

Kaeru: YOU ARE GOING TO DIE IF IT TAKES ME ANOTHER 5 MILLENNIA!

Bakura: *running* *yells over shoulder* AS IF! If we fight, we BOTH get destroyed! And it's not even my fault anyway; it was in the script!

Kaeru: *waves baseball bat* SO WHAT?!

HCG: *blinks* Uuum...

Kaiba: Well, there's a new lesson learned. Don't let Kaeru watch Yu-Gi-Oh with you. Especially if it's the episode when he's making a deal with Malik. 

HCG: Yeah. Or any others. *flinches* I'm just glad it wasn't "Evil Spirit Of the Ring" that was on today. I think Bakura'd be dead by now, no matter the Realm limitations o_O;;

*All three watch Bakura and Kaeru run by again*

Kawari: *shrugs* Actually, I think this is pretty entertaining.

HCG: ¬_¬;; So says the Negative character that also wanted to see Kaeru rip Bakura's guts out.

Kawari: _;; Shut up! *growls*

HCG: *moves her keyboard out of range* And in any case, it's not as if you can do much when you're spellbound there...thanks to Suma ^_~

Kawari: -_-;; OOooh yeah, THANKS Suma.....*sighs*

Kaze: *sighs* Can we hurry up? I have to go back to the Opposition and check over everything...I was stupid enough to leave Pegasus and Duke Devlin in charge, and if they haven't killed each other by now, there will be murder soon.

HCG: o_O I thought they were friends or partners or something?

Kaze: Hel-LO? Negative Realm? Opposites?

HCG: ^_^;; Oh yeah, that's right. Okay, onto the author notes!

****

Daricio ~ Hmm, you think the names are more confusing? Well....I'm sorry ^_^;; I'm sure it'll sink in in a few chapters, though. As for Kawari and Kaeru's names being similar--now, THAT I did on purpose. I wanted them to be nearly the same because, though they are two different people, they are alike in personality and so are kinda like two in one at the same time. And yeah, I know the two Joey's aren't that different...I've had trouble with his personality, but hopefully he'll seem at least a LITTLE different in this chapter....*sighs*

****

YumeTakato ~ Heh heh heh, you liked Kawari's little commentary on the fight, yes? ^_^ I had fun thinking it up. As for the name list, sure I'll do it ^_^ It'll go in with the notes at the bottom of this whole author's thingie...

****

Wingleader Sora Jade ~ ^_^ Good job, you, you found the resemblance's! Actually, I hadn't noticed the pocket-knife o_O;; I was trying to be a LITTLE similar to the anime, and Bakura seems to stab Ryou a lot ^_^;;

Kaeru: HE DOES?! *runs after Bakura with new determination, baseball bat held higher*

HCG: o_O;; Um...yeah...

Kawari: x_X;; Eeeeeviiiiillll.......

HCG: What's wrong with you?

Kawari: Evil leather...._;; If it's not ONE form of torture, it's another...

HCG: *rolls eyes* *continues answer* As for cloning Kawari--

Kawari: YOU CAN'T! HAHAHAHAHAHA!

HCG: ¬_¬;; As I was SAYING, you can clone Kawari if you want ^_^. He IS such a fun little cool guy, ain't he? And as for the writing him into a fic idea...I don't mind ^_^ If/when you do, however, just let me know about it via email. Oh, and if you really _are _interested in writing him into a fic, I'd suggest waiting until Ch. 7 of NC...that's an almost entirely Kawari-based chapter, and you get lots of info about him then ^_~ Okay, I'll shut up now ^_^;;

****

Silver Fang ~ O_O You have an HCG Banner? I was unaware that such banners existed ^_^;; Well, anyway, I'm glad you agree with the name-problem being solved. And Kaeru would normally thank you for your concern with his destroying himself, but he's busy, so...*watches Kaeru dash by again, chasing madly after Bakura* Anyway....

****

Aibou ~ Bakura: *takes the moment to stop, as he's pretty far ahead of Kaeru* You know what? I think you're ALL against me! *rubs head, where it was dented in with the M. Rod* I'm serious! Beat up HCG, SHE wrote the fic, not ME!

Kaeru: *catches up to Bakura* ^_~ Dun worry, Aibou, I'll give him a few good whacks for ya!

HCG: ¬_¬;; *sarcastically* You'd never know they were the same person...*sighs* Anyway, Suma, thanks for using a healing spell on me, I needed it...oh, and you thought Ch. 4 was the best chapter? Well, I think you'll find Ch. 7 _particularly _interesting, then *evil grin*

Okay, that's all the individual notes. Now for the general notes. Well, it seems to me that my reviewers were divided over whether the new names were cool or confusing. Um..sorry to you who thought it was confusing...I didn't mean it o_O;; I've been using the names in my head since Shadow Turned Light Ch. 9 (I think) though, so I'm used to them....^_^;;

Oh, and as a side note--Hey, WSJ, the stuff I've been borrowing from you--the Elements--are finally coming into the story now! YAY for you! ^___^ Okay, so granted, it doesn't come in until the end, but still.....

Kaze: *sighs* Just do the disclaimer and get on with the story....

HCG: ^_^;; Right! Okay, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of it's characters. I also don't own the Seven Elements, as I'm calling them--those belong to Wingleader Sora Jade, and first come into play in her own excellent story, "All Saint's Night" and go on from there. Go read'em. As for all the Negative Realm plots and ideas, those are MINE, and I'd appreciate if you ASKED before using them. And Karma and Slash are mine too, but....well....now they've both disappeared o_O;; I'll find'em....I swear I will...I need my muses!

Kaiba: o_O You still have ME...

HCG: That's right. *clings to Kaiba* ^___^

Kaiba: -_-;; I HAD to talk, didn't I?

Okay, first, Names:

****

Kawari ~ NR Ryou

****

Kaeru ~ NR Bakura

****

Kaze ~ NR Kaiba

Yeah, I know, lots of K's, so sue me -_-;;

Notes: 

/word/ ~ Yugi to Yami

//word// ~ Yami to Yugi 

Okay, this chapter has a duel sequence in it. Now, I've done my best to write out an accurate duel, but bear in mind that I'm no expert in the game. Some cards may not be _quite _right, as I'm using the anime for my base mostly, and some cards the characters in question may not actually have--I'm improvising. I mean, come on, each character has nearly 40 cards in their deck, and there's NO WAY we've seen them all...I can improvise if I want ^_~ What I'm saying is, don't get mad at the duel if I've done something wrong--gimme a break, I'm not a game expert, I'm a lousy fanfiction author ^_^

Oh, and special thanks to Aibou--she helped me out with different cards to use for my particular needs for this duel ^_~ She's a good duelist, too, so she gave me some advice. And then beat the crud outta me in a duel -_-;; Anyway, thanks, Aibou!

Is that all? I think I'll just fill up this blank space with random words...la la la...*gets lots of stuff thrown at her by readers* Geeze, you people don't know how to take a joke...*limps off and starts story*

Negative Chaos

Chapter 5: Controller of the Realms

Nearly a half hour after their departure, the group of nine finally found themselves standing at the large glass doors leading into the large KaibaCorp. building. Out of habit, Yugi tilted his head backwards and stared at the enormous height of the skyscraper building, but the rest of his companions scurried past him and quickly pulled open the double doors, anxious to be off the street. Pulling his gaze away from the still-awe-inspiring sight, he followed his friends into the building.

Speedily, as they had planned, the group split into two seperate parties. They had decided earlier that it was probably not one of the best ideas to walk into KaibaCorp. with three sets of twins that had apparently not existed earlier, and had therefore split up their similar-looking beings so their nearly identical features would hopefully not be noticed by the workers within the building. Kaeru and Kawari, being yami and hikari, naturally branched off together into one group, Mokuba and Yami following them. Yugi and Ryou walked in the second group, trying to act casual, with Joey and Kaiba striding behind them--and Kaze, crouching behind the two tallest in the group so as not to be seen at all. Again, the group had come upon the conclusion that workers, seeing to Kaiba's, would be suspicious, and he could not use a "twin" excuse on his own employees. 

Though there were quite a few stares in the direction of the two groups--owing, no doubt, to Kaiba's presence in such an odd assembly of people--they made their way through the lobby, for the most part without trouble. They reached the doorways to the stairs and wrenched them open quickly, wanting to get out of the way of so many uncomfortable glances. Oddly enough, the three Negative beings seemed to have mixed reactions to the stares; though they _acted _calm and cool, they looked rather nervous at so much scrutiny. On asking Kawari about the reaction, the Negative Ryou had replied with a hiss, "We're not used to it. If this many people are watching you in _our _Realm, it usually means you're about to die or be in serious pain a few seconds later." Yugi had shuddered at the response, and Ryou had given his opposite an odd stare, his gaze flickering unconsciously to Kaeru before snapping back stubbornly to it's original course. Nothing was said on the subject after that.

The long journey up the stairs was, for the most part, uneventful. They made it up a good twenty-five floors without trouble, chatting quietly amongst themselves over various topics. The conversation stopped, however, when each person heard the familiar trudging sound above them of a person coming down the steps towards them. 

The group reacted almost instantly. Kaeru's and Yami's physical forms had faded out of existence before the person above had taken two steps; apparently, they were smart enough to make themselves scarce so as not to attract unwanted attention. However, while their problem was easily solved, Joey had noticed another that was far from gone.

"Oh, man!" he hissed, glancing from Kaiba to Kaze and back. "They're gonna see you two and we'll be caught!" Without thinking, his eyes scanned the surrounding area. All around them, there was nothing but stairwells. He frowned, but suddenly found his eyes focusing on a janitor's closet not two feet away.

The footsteps above were getting closer; the figure was about to start the turn in the curving stairwell that would bring them into view with the group. Without warning, Joey reacted, grabbing the closest version of Kaiba and ripping open the janitor's closet, shoving him inside. He slammed the door shut quickly and wheeled around, leaning against it as a sharp yell of angry surprise forced itself through, though muffled. 

"Not bad," the remaining version of Kaiba muttered approvingly. Flame and shadow adorned; he was, Joey noticed, the Negative version. "Quick reaction, nice solution to the problem. You'd make a fair agent in the Opposition." 

Though a little surprised at the compliment, the blonde teen suddenly realized that he had just shoved the _True Realm _Kaiba into the tiny closet. He bit his lip, not wanting to see how the entire situation would work out for him, though he could already guess it was most certainly not going to be good. 

The figure coming down the steps was in view with them now. It was a woman, with blonde hair and a light colored dress, her arms wrapped around a stack of papers and muttering under her breath. She started in surprise as she saw the oddly-assembled group at the foot of the next flight of steps, looking at them strangely.

It was then that Yugi noticed. Kawari and Ryou, identical in everything but personality, were still standing in the middle of the group, neither having time to hide. He supposed it looked a little odd, when combined with the rest of the members of the group, but at least there weren't two other pairs of "twins" in the group as before.

Abruptly, the woman seemed to notice Kaiba--or at least the Negative version of him--standing in the middle of the group. Coming down the stairs quicker than she had before, she held out the papers, muttering in a rather relieved tone, "Oh, Mr. Kaiba! I have some important documents here for you to sign--they're concerning your latest Duel Disk System. They're very important, sir." She pushed through the group, getting closer to Kaze, apparently not wanting to miss her chance getting her workload signed and done with.

Kaze, meanwhile, looked a little surprised--or at least, what counted as "surprised" for him; his face looked as calm and cool as if it was carved from stone. Yugi noticed with a bit of curiosity that it was the words "duel disk" that had triggered the Negative's odd look; he wondered about it, confused, before he recalled that the Opposition Leader had never had a chance to build his holographic game systems. Obviously, hearing of something that didn't exist to him must have thrown him off track. However, he recovered quickly, saying easily, "Not now. I'll look over them later, when I have more time."

"But, sir--" the lady was looking quite annoyed now, and it showed in her voice.  
"I believe I gave specific orders not to be disturbed," Kaze said, clearly and with an air of superiority. "I only left my office so as to run a quick errand for my brother." He indicated Mokuba with a quick flourish of his hand, and the young boy added to the lie by grinning cheerfully and coming to stand next to his "big brother."

The woman sighed, apparently realizing she was not going to get her way, but none too happy about it. "Very well, sir," she muttered, turning to head down the stairs in her original path. She stopped suddenly, however, as her eyes passed over Ryou and Kawari, standing calmly next to one another. 

"You look very similar," she muttered, observing the two with flickering eyes. "Are you twins?" she asked suddenly. 

Ryou and Kawari exchanged a quick glance. Neither thought very much of the woman's rather rude manner, but they were willing to play along with the idea she had come up with. Kawari spoke for the both of them. "Yeah, we're twins. Identical." He grinned quickly and added, "You'd think we were the same person, wouldn't you?"

The lady snorted. "I suppose," she mumbled again. "You look enough alike. I could have sworn I saw you outside a few minutes ago, however," she added, giving Kawari a glance. "Though wasn't your hair...well...different?"

Kawari caught on quickly. "Yeah, that was me," he said, absent-mindedly. "It spikes up a lot this time of year. Hair usually gets up, and it won't stay down--but I tamed it." He gave another wide grin. "Strange, isn't it?"

"Indeed," the woman sniffed, somewhat disdainfully. "In any case, I must be going." Without another word, she pushed past the remainder of the group and continued on down the stairs, muttering under her breath again.

Almost as soon as she had left, Kawari began hissing under his breath as well. "I do _not _look like Ba--Kaeru," he muttered, forgetting his yami's new name for the moment. "What makes her think that's _me?_"

"Well, you gotta admit," Joey said with a snicker, "when compared to _our _version of Ryou, you _do _look a lot meaner." He grinned again as Kawari shot him a rather annoyed look, but the white-haired Negative stayed silent, and so the blonde teen had no reason to continue. 

Yugi, throughout the banter, had walked over to the janitor's closet and opened it. With a glare that should have struck Joey down where he stood with fire and daggers, a very irate Seto Kaiba trudged out of the tiny closet and stomped up the stairs. Joey, nevertheless, gulped silently and decided to stay a few feet behind the enraged CEO--just in case.

Seeing no other option, the rest of the group quickly followed the True Realm Kaiba, falling into new conversations as they moved. Kaze hastily caught up to his opposite counterpart, hoping to calm him down before any dispute came to pass between him and Joey. He succeeded, for the most part; he was intelligent enough to turn the conversation to the Duel Disk Systems the lady had talked of, and within moments the two of them were in a conversation only they could really comprehend. 

Several more minutes passed uneventfully as the group trotted up the steps. They ran into no other employees on the stairwells, making their travel much easier. At last, after what seemed like ages, they reached their desired floor and stepped out into the hallways. With relieved grace, the group moved towards Kaiba's office, most wanting a chance to sit down and gather their thoughts and ideas together.

Still talking with Kaze, Kaiba slowly approached the doors to his office, his face entirely serious. He had been astounded to learn that Kaze had never had the chance to build his hologram projectors and card systems in the Negative Realm, though he _had _written out the plans for them. The Negative CEO, in turn, had been quite interested to learn that Kaiba had built holographic stadiums _and _Duel Disk Systems, and was in fact working on the third version of the latter playing tool. Interested, the True Seto had been about to ask his opposite a new question, pushing open the door to his office in the process...

...And stopped, staring with wide-eyed shock at the person sitting calmly at his office desk.

As with all Negative Realm beings, the figure looked exactly like his True Realm counterpart--tall, with blonde hair and deep brown eyes. His eyes, however, were harder, and looked more sorrow-filled, as though they had once seen better days, but could no longer find even the wisps of memories for them. His clothing, in contrast to the other Negative beings, was light-colored and looked almost friendly; for the most part it was made of different shades of blue, and consisting of a light jacket, tee-shirt, and casual jeans. Within an instant, it was easy to identify the figure sitting calmly in Kaiba's seat.

"'Ey, guys, what's up?" the Negative Joey asked easily, his eyes flickering over the two versions of Kaiba entering the room.

The True Realm CEO looked plainly startled, but recovered within moments. He strode forward, bristling angrily, and hissed, "What the _hell _do you think you're doing in my office, Wheeler?!"

The reaction from the blonde was most interesting. With perfect ease, Joey drew himself up and answered lazily, "Ah, shove off, Kaiba, you've got such a temper in this Realm." He grinned and looked over the enraged True Seto's shoulder at the Opposition leader, adding with a wink, "Ain't that right?" Kaze, in reply, chuckled. 

Kaiba, meanwhile, was rather annoyed and a bit startled at the Negative blonde's reaction. He growled in his throat angrily, but said nothing, attempting to hold in his temper. 

The opposite Joey stood up now, coming around the desk to meet the other entering figures. As both Kaeru and Kawari had done, he nodded respectfully in Kaze's direction, though did so in a more friendly and less formal manner, grinning all the while. His respects paid, he turned his attention the rest of the group.

The True Joey strode forward suddenly, staring at his Negative counterpart in surprise. After seeing the opposite versions of his friends, he supposed he should have been ready to see such a sight, but nevertheless he gawked slightly upon seeing _himself _facing him, identical down to the last fingerprint. 

The Negative blonde, meanwhile, spoke. "Ah, so _you're _my True Realm self. Nice to meet ya; I've heard quite a bit about you from Yug' over there." He nodded in Yugi's direction, still smiling friendily. He didn't look startled or nervous about the occurrences at all; if anything, he seemed to be _enjoying _the strangeness of the situation. 

Joey nodded in reply. "Yeah, nice to see you--or should I say me?--too." He broke into his own trademark grin, suddenly feeling as relaxed as his opposite looked. 

The Negative, his greeting finished, moved onto observing the others. He nodded to Yugi again, still smiling cheerfully, and easily distinguished Kawari, of his own Realm, from Ryou, though he gave the True light a respectful nod as well. His glance froze momentarily on Mokuba, and his eyes flickered unconsciously to Kaze and back, yet he kept up his friendly act and said nothing, his surprise quickly diminishing.

Without warning, the room was filled with two more people as Kaeru and Yami exited their Items quickly--apparently, Kawari and Yugi had told them it was safe to come out. The Negative Joey identified Kaeru quickly, the two being good friends, but his eyes snapped into place on Yami, his grin slowly fading away into a frown. 

The Pharaoh sighed, leaning back against the wall for a bit of support as he murmured, "Yugi...will you explain it? I'm getting a bit tired of repeating myself."

Yugi nodded slightly before turning to the opposite Joey. "Don't worry," he muttered quickly. "Yami's on our side here, like I told you back in your Realm. He won't attack anybody without good reason, and you are, without a doubt, safe around him."

"Right," the opposite nodded quickly, accepting the explanation without an argument. "It makes sense." His grin was replaced, and he glanced cheerfully at Yami, apparently already at ease towards the spirit. The Pharaoh was a bit shocked at the opposite Joey's supposed sudden faith, but he did not complain--he needed the trust, so as to prove to the Negative beings that he was, in fact, on their side.

Kaiba abruptly spoke once more, hissing his words slightly in his anger. "How in God's name did you get past all my security?"

The Negative being question laughed in reply. "No offense," he chuckled, staring Kaiba straight in the eye, "but your security is pathetic. _I _could sneak by them undetected, and I don't even have half the spy skills that we train our resources with."

The True CEO, his temper now rising, backed up a step. He growled again, softly, but said nothing, instead clenching his fist into a tight knot and digging his fingernails into his flesh. 

Kaze, thankfully, broke the tension between the two of them before it could snap completely. He spoke to the Negative Joey quickly, saying calmly, "You need a temporary name."

"What do you mean?" the opposite asked, frowning.

"What I mean," the Blue Eyes said easily, "is that you need a replacement name, so we are not calling two identical people by the same thing. Myself, Ryou, and Bakura, each of us from the Negative Realm, already have new names. I'm going by Kaze, while Ryou is Kawari and Bakura is Kaeru."

"Replacement name, hmmm?" the Negative asked musingly. "That shouldn't be too hard to come up with. How about....Saguru?"

Kawari chuckled. "To spy? Just a _little _bit into the Opposition, aren't you?" 

Kaze, speaking at the same time, muttered under his breath, "Ever the agent."

The newly-named Saguru widened his grin in reply. "Well, why not? You guys all have symbolic names, I might as well have one too." His grin slowly faded away, however, to become replaced by a serious look. "Have all of us from the Negative Realm been found?"

Kaeru nodded in reply. "All those that crossed over," he said slowly, "though as to _why _we're here, we've still no idea."

Yami made his entrance into the conversation slowly. "I think I may have an idea as to why you have been drawn into our Realm," he said slowly, thoughtfully. 

"Really?" Kaeru asked, sounding slightly interested, but skeptical as well. It was apparent from the sound of his voice that his distrust towards Yami had not diminished by much yet. "And it would be...?"

"Hold on," Yugi interjected. "Wait up a second before you explain it, Yami."

"Why?" the Pharaoh spirit asked, curious.

"I wanted to call Tristen and Tea. They'd probably be able to help us out in a case like this, and I have the feeling we're gonna need all the help we can get."

"Indeed," Yami agreed, settling back against the wall. 

After getting permission from a still rather angry-looking Kaiba, the young Hikari picked up the phone and dialed the numbers of his two currently absent friends. As he did so, his darker half observed the four Negative Realm beings scattered throughout the room. A few moments ago had been one of the rare times when they had shown surprise; at the mention of Tristen and Tea, they had looked rather shocked, though each and every one of them covered their emotion quickly and expertly. Yami reasoned that the cause was probably from the fact that Tristen had died in their Realm--he tried not to add that last words, _at my hands,_ into his thoughts, but it didn't work very well--and that Tea had been hidden in Great Britain for the past year and a half without seeing any of the Opposition members once. There was no doubt as to why it had come as a shock...

Yugi returned to the rest of the group quickly, announcing that Tristen and Tea were both free, and would be arriving at the KaibaCorp. building in roughly a half hour. The rest of the group nodded in acceptance and quietly settled down to simple chatting, awaiting the arrival of their two missing companions so that they could turn to the task at hand that required the Realms' Balance.

Yugi found himself talking quietly to the four Negative Realm beings, Yami by his side and occasionally throwing in his own opinion. The young Hikari was pleased to see that the atmosphere between his yami and the other Realm teens was becoming less dangerous, and slowly was edging towards being friendly. Each was still wary of the other, but they were slowly beginning to admit to themselves that they were allies, not enemies.

The topic eventually came around to dueling. Kaze stayed unusually silent, his lips pressed together tightly and looking somewhat white. Kawari and Kaeru did not volunteer much information, but Yugi, Yami, and Saguru were talking in a whirlwind, discussing different cards and important trades they had made recently. 

"I've even come up with a few winning strategies that have never let me down in my duels," the Negative Joey added, grinning brightly. "They're really effective, and I can usually dig a chunk out of my opponent's life points."

Kaiba, meanwhile, had stayed off to the side, sitting in his desk chair and fuming slowly. On overhearing the Negatives' conversation, something within him finally snapped. He stood up abruptly and walked over to the group in a flourish, growling all the while.

"_You _came up with a _strategy, _Wheeler?" he hissed, chuckling. "Now, _that _is as fine a joke as I've heard in a while. You wouldn't know a strategy if it hit you in the face and laughed, you idiotic canine."

Kaze had heard the entire thing, and was watching his opposite levelly. Very slowly, he opened his mouth and hissed, "Watch the insults."

Kaiba laughed. "Why should I?" he asked, glaring daggers at Saguru. "I see no reason, and he does deserve it."

The Opposition leader sighed. "A reason? Very well. I, for one, am rather disappointed to see myself reduced to insults in this Realm. I would think we were above that."

Kaiba growled deep in his throat, narrowing his eyes angrily. "Would that be a challenge?" 

Kaze continued his level gaze towards his other half. "Take it however you wish. It is of no concern to me."

The True Seto hissed in anger, and without warning whipped his Duel Monsters deck out of his trench coat pocket. "Fine then," he growled. "I challenge you to a Duel."

The Blue Eyes grinned. "I would love to answer your challenge," he said evenly, his gaze never wavering. "However, I think you and I will find it impossible to fulfill."

"Why would you say that?" the True CEO asked mockingly. "Are you running away?"

"You think we are one to run so easily? Think again. I have my reasons. For one, I have no deck with which to face you--I sold every single card I ever owned in attempts to earn money for the Opposition." Kaiba looked vaguely shocked at hearing this, but Kaze continued without stopping. "For another, even if I had my full deck with me, we would never win against each other. Remember the Realm's limitations; you and I, being one and the same, cannot defeat each other no matter how hard we try."

Kaiba looked distinctly disappointed, but his Negative grinned. "I have, however, not finished," he added, his competitor's blood running now. "I have a new idea as to how to resolve this little dispute." He turned and motioned towards the Negative beings behind him, saying slowly, "within this group is one duelist that I have given much training to. Instead of _myself _dueling you, then, I can have this person duel as my representative--he will, therefore, have my skill level, or near to it, but at the same time he will have his own cards and a variety of original moves, thus making it a fair fight." He grinned, facing Kaiba glare for glare. "Would you accept _this _challenge, then?"

Smirking, the True Seto nodded. "Of course," he said easily, thumbing the cards in his deck as if already planning which ones to use. "Not as interesting as a duel against myself sounds, of course, but who am I to judge?" He eyed Kawari quickly, obviously expecting the white-haired teen to be the candidate to represent his Negative.

"Not interesting?" Kaze's grin, if possible, deepened, darkening at the same time. "Would you care to place a wager on the outcome of the duel, then?"

"Name it."

"Very well." His ice-blue eyes glittered, and both Yugi and Yami had the sense that Kaiba was being led deep into a trap that there was no backing out of. The Opposition leader continued, his voice calm. "If my representative wins, or even comes out to a tie against you, then you may not insult either version of Joey for the rest of my remainder in this Realm."

Kaiba's own eyes looked calculating for a second, but finally he nodded. "Fine. Why, exactly, would you place a bet on a tie, however?"

"It makes the match more interesting. Ties rarely happen, you understand. And I would doubt that one at skill levels such as ours would ever fall into such an ending to a duel, don't you agree?"

The True Seto grinned. "I do at that." He frowned and looked thoughtful for a moment before saying slowly, "If _I _win, however, you must give up your title as the leader of your Negative band and denote yourself to the level of the dog over there, again for the remainder of your time in our Realm." His fiendish grin widened, his gaze became harsh and cold.

Kaze did not bat an eyelid. He answered almost lazily, "Agreed."

Joey felt shocked as soon as the last of the word had died away. The entire conversation between the Negative and True versions of Kaiba had been startling. Even more baffling was the fact that the entire plan of the duel had started when Kaze had been defending Saguru against an insult. And the _stakes _on the duel...the blonde was shocked just thinking about them. If the mysterious representative won, Kaiba wouldn't be able to insult him the entire time the Negative beings were there. And if he lost....that, too, was surprising; Joey would never have thought that _Kaiba _of all people would agree to being constantly insulted for a friend. In all truth, this Negative Kaiba was downright creepy.

"If there are no more terms to be settled out, then," the Blue Eyes continued, "shall I call my representative forward for you to duel?"

Kaiba nodded, again eyeing Kawari. The white-haired teen grinned in reply and asked easily, "Did you think it was me? No, I might be an okay duelist, but it's definitely not my area."

"Then who...?" the CEO cut off abruptly as Kaze spoke again.

"Saguru, will you step forward?"

*****

Roughly ten minutes later, the entire group of ten had left Kaiba's office, following the True Realm CEO down a few flights of stairs and past several doors and hallways. He walked quickly, eager to become engaged in a duel so as to humiliate Joey--in _any _Realm--again. With a dark smirk on his face, he reached a pair of steel doors and pushed them open, saying easily, "Our Dueling arena."

The group filed into the vast room quickly, staring in all directions as each person looked over the room. Joey, Yugi, and Yami recognized the room almost instantly; it was the same chamber that Yugi, then unknowingly combined with his ancient spirit guardian, had defeated Kaiba for the first time. The Dueling Arena still stood as well, it's high-held duelist compartments waiting quietly with their painted smirks across their fronts. The field the holograms would soon appear on was enormous, promising a spectacularly animated duel when the game began. Kaze, upon seeing the arena, nodded approvingly.

"Well," Kaiba said calmly, turning to face both his opposite and Saguru. "Shall we begin, then?"

Saguru was the one to reply. "Why not? I've never used one of these before, but I'm sure I'll pick it up quickly."

Seto just grinned. "Of course," he chuckled, his eyes glittering darkly. Joey cringed, reminded far too vividly of his first attempt at using the Duel Disk System; it had ended in failure on much the same terms. He had to admit, though, the Arenas were easier to use, and so hopefully his own Negative counterpart would adjust within a few minutes. 

As Kaiba and Saguru headed off to their opposite dueling compartments, the rest of the group positioned themselves along the sides of the arena to watch. Yugi and Yami, as always, looked quite interested in the approaching duel, as did Ryou and Kaeru. Kawari seemed to look on the duel as little more than entertainment, and seemed almost bored. Mokuba looked confused and was constantly looking back and forth between his True and Negative brother, as if unsure of which one to root for. Kaze had positioned himself squarely in the middle of the sidelines, so as not to miss a thing, and he had his arms crossed confidently, the ghost of a grin forming on his face.

Joey, of all of the people in the group, was the most confused--even more so than Mokuba. He stared at Kaze with a baffled frown before striding over to stand next to him, asking slowly, "Why are you doing this? Putting up so many risks for yourself, I mean?"

"Why?" Kaze repeated slowly, his gaze sliding from the Arena to the figure addressing him. "There are two reasons. For one, I could not consider myself a friend of yours--in either Realm--if I stood by and let such insults pass. I am always ready to defend my friends, and for this, I am willing to wager a duel against anyone, even myself. As for the risks involved," he added, watching Joey's perplexed frown deepen, "if you mean by that the fact that I am throwing my leadership and title on the line...both Saguru and I know that if we cannot defeat anyone for such a just cause that we are fighting for, then we very well deserve the place of insults." His gaze turned back to the Arena, but he continued speaking. "Would that, perhaps, answer your question?"

"Yeah," Joey murmured, taking a step back and slowly walking to join Yugi and Yami. "Yeah, it does." He only felt more confused than he had been to begin with, though. Kaze was a confusing and somewhat creepy person, indeed.

Meanwhile, Kaiba and Saguru had stepped into their respective dueling compartments, and were being raised slightly into the air by the metal supports underneath their feet. The posts at each corner of the arena shimmered and lit up, signifying that the equipment was ready for use.

"Ready to begin?" Kaiba asked coolly, shuffling his deck with ease.

"You bet." Saguru, across from him, had finished shuffling his own deck, and had set the cards down in their place quickly.

"Then let's duel." The CEO drew five cards quickly, watching his opponent as he did the same. The Life Point scoreboard suspended over the center of the Arena lit up, giving both players their 4000 points.

"Since it's my turn," Kaiba began, "I think I'll start by placing one monster card down, in attack mode. The Hitotsu-Me Giant." With a soft sound, he placed the card down on the Field board in front of him, ignoring the small flash of light as the machinery read the information of the card and registered it.

With a roar, the Field in front of Kaiba lit up, sending light blasting in all directions as a hologram rose from the ground. A well-muscled creature, green in skin color, stood in the place of the brightness a few moments later. It bared it's long claws and growled, it's one, large, bloodshot eye roaming the playing field across from it, as though searching for it's opponent. Off to the side, a mini-hologram of the statistics of the monster appeared for a few seconds, showing the creature's rather small attack of 1200 and defense of 1000.

Saguru looked a little surprised at the realistic appearance of the monster, but held his ground and quickly recovered. "Hitotsu-Me Giant, hmm?" he asked, drawing a card as he spoke. "Well, in that case, I'll play my Kojikocy card, also in attack mode." 

His side of the Arena lit up as well, and a large, full-bearded man rose from the paneling of the machinery. It was dressed in ancient looking armor, bearing a scimitar and looking as though it could use it well, from the size of it's muscles. It's statis board showed it's attack to be 1500.

Saguru grinned and continued. "Kojikocy, attack the Giant now." 

Bellowing a war cry, the holographic man-hunter leaped forward, swinging his scimitar in a rush. The Hitotsu-Me Giant screamed in pain as the sword was drawn across it, and within moments it had disintegrated, it's hologram fading away. Up on the scoreboard, Kaiba's 4000 Life Points retreated to 3700.

"Not bad," Kaiba said calmly, though his dark smirk remained as he drew a new card of his own. "However, I believe I have a monster to match yours." He grinned, placing the new monster card down onto the playing board. "Battle Ox, attack mode! Show his Kojikocy who the real blade master is!"

Another animal roar resounded throughout the chamber as the new creature was formed from the holographic emitters around the stadium. A half-bull creature soon became visible, it's brown-furred, humanoid arms clutched tightly around a wicked-looking single-sided axe. Red and golden armor covered the creature's upper body, it's helmet extended so as to cover the dangerous, pointed horns producing from the sides of it's head. The counter at it's side proved it's dominance over it's opponent, it's attack standing at 1700 attack points. With another beast's roar, it stomped forward, it's hooved feet looking as though they would crash through the Arena floor paneling. With a mighty swing of it's axe, it cleaved the man-hunter across from it neatly in two, growling it's victory to the air as it's opponent yelled and disappeared. Kaiba watched with satisfaction as Joey's Life Points changed from 4000 to 3800. "Your move, _Saguru._"

The Negative Joey sighed and looked over his hand. He had no useful monsters with which to attack; all but one needed a sacrifice before they could be put into play. His magic and trap cards, too, would be of no use in the current situation. He sighed and drew a new card quickly before making his move.

"I play the Swordsman of Landstar--in defense mode." He placed the card down on the field in it's sideways position, watching it appear in front of him in another giant flash of light. The creature hardly looked threatening; if anything, it looked more like a child's plaything, with it's little grin plastered over it's face. As soon as it appeared, it sank to one knee, placed it's little sword in a sheath on it's back, and held both of it's arms, crossed, in front of him. The statis screen hovering next to him showed his defense to be relatively decent at 1200 points.

"That's it?" Kaiba asked skeptically, chuckling. "Really, hardly into the game and you're already running like a scared little puppy." He watched the Negative blonde intently for a reaction; unfortunately for him, he found none. Saguru watched him just as calmly as he had before, the insult seeming not to even reach his ears.

"You'd be surprised, Kaiba," the opposite Joey said calmly. "I haven't even begun to show you my little tricks. Trust me, I'm not about to loose."

On the sidelines, his True self nodded in fierce agreement. "That's it!" he encouraged his counterpart, grinning. "You tell'im! Just trust your Deck and believe in the Heart of the Cards, and you're bound to win!"

"I wouldn't waste your breath, if I was you," Kaze said calmly, giving the True Joey a quick glance. "He doesn't believe in the Heart."

The blonde looked startled. "He doesn't?" he yelped, staring with new understanding towards his other self. 

"Not at all," the Blue Eyes said calmly in reply, his eyes returning to focus on the two holographic monsters in front of them. "Actually," he added as an afterthought, "I personally find this duel quite interesting. A duel between two top rank duelists, neither of which believes in the Heart of the Cards."

"I still can't believe it," Joey murmured, still surprised. "Not believing in the Heart...why not?"

"He _is _your opposite," Kaze said calmly, still focusing on the monsters. "What you believe in he may not, necessarily."

The True blonde nodded, sighing. "Right," he muttered. He turned as if to look over the duel once more; however, a thought suddenly struck him. "Wait a minute," he said suddenly, turning to face Kaze again. "If _Kaiba _doesn't believe in the Heart of the Cards either, and _you're _his opposite...then you _do?_" 

"Exactly." The response was cool and precise. 

Joey was stunned, and to cover his surprise he hastily turned back to watching the duel. _Kaiba, a believer in the Heart? No way..._

Meanwhile, back within the duel, it was Kaiba's turn. "Very well, if you cannot summon a monster that can withstand my Deck's awesome power, I will just have to show you how it's done." He drew a card and grinned at it's face. "This will do. I summon the Skull Red Bird in attack mode!"

With a haunting shriek, the Arena erupted into another burst of light, giving birth to it's latest monster. A large, stunningly beautiful bird rose from the brightness, spreading it's wings wide and flapping them to stay in air. It was a deep, blood red in color, a fiery plume of feathers producing from it's head and just barely revealing glowing red pupils. A spiked collar wrapped the creature's neck, and it's talons looked as sharp as the metal. It's enormous wings hardly concealed the long dagger-points of the weapons stored within the reddish feathers, and it was easy to see why it's attack reading stood at 1550.

"Skull Red Bird," Kaiba hissed easily, sounding almost bored. "Attack!"

With another haunting sound, almost a melody, the bird swooped forward. It's wings spread wide, and a hail of knives sliced outward, cutting the air with an almost singing sound and slicing the Swordsman of Landstar into pieces within seconds. It's attack finished, it flashed backward and landed with perfect grace on a skull that rested on the Arena paneling, a skull that had not been there only a few minutes earlier.

"And I think," Kaiba said calmly, eyeing his Battle Ox, "that I will hold off my second attack until later. I really do wish to have a bit more fun in this duel, don't you?" He grinned maliciously, a dark look that had sent many a duelist shivering in their compartments.

Saguru ignored it. Instead, he began his turn, glancing over the two monsters Kaiba had set out carefully. _He's trying to summon a creature, _he noticed almost instantly. _And a big one at that. He could have demolished my Swordsman with just his Battle Ox, but he brought out another creature as well. And since he hasn't tried a second attack, it's obvious he wasn't planning on reaching my Life Points just yet. That only leaves one other option for his moves--Tribute._

With a small frown, he moved to draw another card from his deck. At first, he felt anger--the new card wasn't a monster--but then, abruptly, he grinned. A trap card, and a good one at that. A plan began to form in his mind, and he fought the grin off his face quickly. _Can't let him know too early. Play it right, man._

"I play one card face down," he said slowly, taking his newest draw and placing it within the Magic and Trap zone. "And that will end my turn."

"Not even a monster?" his opponent asked, laughing. "What a fool. Now you will see the reason you should have played smarter, _Saguru._" His grin widened, his laugh became harsher. "I sacrifice my Battle Ox and Skull Red Bird to draw upon another monster!" He tore the two monster cards off the field, tossing them carelessly into his Graveyard. The holograms in front of him reacted just as suddenly; the Battle Ox bent over and bellowed in angry pain, while the Skull Red Bird twisted it's wings back and shrieked in mournful agony. Both became enveloped in pockets of light, which in turn twisted together and swirled in hundreds of colors, forming a Tribute Gateway. Kaiba's laughter increased. "I call upon the mythical, powerful, and indestructible beast--the Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

A monstrous roar shook the walls of the chamber, and the group on the side of the Arena hastily covered their ears against the noise. With another almighty roar, a lizard-like creature began to claw it's way out of the Tribute Gateway. It was impossibly huge, it's armored scales shining in an amazingly pure white color, the blue highlights flickering on it's hard sides. With claws nearly six inches long, it raked defiantly at the air, it's long tail whipping about the Arena in a frenzied manner. Huge, swept-back armored wings unfolded and furled around it, too big for the Arena alone to hold. It's head, the most terrifying thing about it, rose on it's serpentine neck and snapped it's toothy jaws at the air, and the attack readings next to it, at 3000 points, seemed tiny beside the creature.

Kaiba's grin widened, and the order he gave was a sharp hiss. "Blue Eyes! Demolish his Life Points with your White Lightning!"

The holographic dragon reared back on it's haunches, snapping it's head high as a crackling ball of pure light formed between it's jaws. When the energy became too much for the creature's mouth alone to hold, it shoved it's head forward, preparing to expel the energy from it's mouth. 

"Did you really think I hadn't seen that coming?" Saguru asked skeptically, frowning. "Really, a move as obvious as your last one was a clear warning for me. I prepared for it." He reached for his face-down card, flipping it over and yelling over the roar of the dragon, "I activate Trap Hole!" 

Kaiba's eyes widened in pure shock as he watched his dragon scream in sudden terror and fall into the deep pit beneath it's feet. The charged White Lighting attack was shot off course, exploding upwards and out of harm's way; the dragon, meanwhile, lay in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the hole, already out of play. 

"No!" The True CEO hissed angrily. "My dragon! You're going to pay for that, Wheeler!"

"Sure thing, Kaiba," the blonde muttered calmly back. "In the meantime, it's my turn again." He reached for his deck and drew, grinning as he saw the image on the card. A monster, and one that could be used at that. "I summon my Alligator Sword!" he yelled, slamming the card down into place. 

The Arena's holographic emitters shimmered, and with a reptilian growl, a new monster came into being on the field. It looked much like a lizard or an alligator, with green scales and a yellow underbelly, along with a huge set of powerful jaws. Black and red armor adorned the creature, and within it's clawed hands it clutched a twisted sword. It's tail swished behind it's attack statis chart, showing it's fair 1500 points as it moved.

Saguru grinned triumphantly as he stared across at his opponent. "And since your Life Points are completely unprotected, I'm going to directly attack them." His voice rose as he ordered his creature. "Alligator Sword! Move in for the kill!" 

The armored reptilian in front of him hissed it's victory and slid forward with animal grace. With perfect aim, it slashed outward with it's sword, attacking the air just in front of Kaiba's dueling compartment. The little cart-like area rocked back on it's support, throwing Kaiba slightly off-balance as the Alligator Sword finished it's attack and retreated, standing back on it's side of the field. Growling, the CEO watched his Life Points dwindle from 3700 to 2200--almost half gone already.

"You little..." he hissed, enraged. "You are going to wish you'd never decided to duel with Seto Kaiba!" His face burning in both anger and humiliation, he slammed his hand down and drew his next card. His face abruptly lit up as he viewed the image on the front of the card, and his dark grin returned. "What a useful monster," he muttered slowly. "I play La Jinn, Mystical Genie of the Lamp, in attack mode."

The lights in the holographic stadium flickered before bringing a new creature onto the field in a wisp of smoke. It rose high into the air, the wisps solidifying and taking on a greenish hue. Within seconds, it had formed the torso, arms, and head of what looked like a very muscular man, though from the waist down it still consisted of a thin trail of smoke. Golden arm bands, earrings, and wrist bands could be seen adorning it's figure, while another golden choker-like object encircled it's neck. An Asian-looking face and mustache were easily seen, as well as a small, blue-and-red circular head garment. It folded it's arms over it's chest and chuckled, it's 1800 attack points shown in it's full defiant look. 

"And I order my Genie to attack your Alligator Sword!" Kaiba finished, his anger plain on his face. The Genie bowed slowly to it's master before turning, holding out it's hands and allowing a glowing orb of bluish-black light to accumulate there. Within a few seconds, the light seemed to leap from it's hands, smashing into the Alligator Sword with force. The creature was thrown backwards violently before screaming and fading away, bringing Saguru's Life Points down to 3500.

The Negative version of Joey didn't bat an eyelid. "My turn," he said simply, drawing a new card. Baby Dragon. He didn't have the Time Wizard to combine it with, meaning that he would have to play the monster without any combos, as it was his only defense. "I'll play Baby Dragon, in Defense mode." 

The little creature sprang up in a tiny ball of light onto the field. Had it been older, it would have looked almost dangerous, but with it's size and stubby arms, legs, tail, and head, it looked more cute than anything else. It gave a tiny growl that sounded half like a squeak and spread it's babyish wings, looking for all the world like it wanted to fight the La Jinn in front of it instead of staying in it's small, 700 point Defense mode. 

"Is that it?" Kaiba asked, looking over the Baby Dragon with distaste. "My turn, then." He drew another card, placing it in his hand before taking a second. "I'll place this card face down," he said calmly, setting one card down in the Magic and Trap zone. "After that," he added, "I'll have my La Jinn attack you again." 

As before, the green-hued Genie raised it's massive arms and held them outward, allowing the blue-black light to form. Without warning it shot out, cannoning into the Baby Dragon and sending the creature spinning backwards with a painful squeak before disappearing completely. 

The True Realm CEO grinned darkly. "Your turn," he said in an annoying, almost sing-song voice, tapping his finger impatiently.

Saguru growled softly as he drew his next card. He glanced over it quickly and sighed in relief; another monster card that could be used. He looked over the rest of his hand and carefully organized his next move.

"I'll play a card face down as well," he said evenly, placing one of his cards within the Magic and Trap zone, much like Kaiba had done. He continued announcing his turn without pause. "Next, I'll play a monster card in attack mode...Armored Lizard!" 

With a screeching roar, the new monster appeared, rising out of the Arena paneling. It was made almost entirely out of metal, though it had a serpentine look to it that gave it a feeling of grace. Only it's throat was bare skin, while the rest of it was covered in hard metal plates. It stood tall, boasting it's 1500 attack points with a roar.

"And finally," the Negative Joey said calmly, "I'll play this magic card...Shield and Sword!"

The two monsters on the field began to flicker as the holographic projectors switched their statis charts. The Armored Lizard's attack dropped to 1200, it's original Defense points, but La Jinn's attack dropped further, falling to a worthless 1000, it's own once-defense level.

"Now," Saguru hissed loudly, "Armored Lizard! Attack!"

The creature streaked forward with a screech of metal on metal as it's armor scratched against itself. It opened it's jaws wide and stretched out it's front claws, moving to slice La Jinn in two.

"Not so fast," Kaiba murmured easily. "I activate my Trap Card...Castle Walls."

"What?!" Saguru yelped in surprise, recoiling slightly in his duelist's compartment.

"Exactly," the CEO said, grinning. "It increases the Defense Points of my monster for one turn when activated. As my monster's current attack is actually it's defense measurement, I believe I have just risen my monster's level above that of yours." He grinned, watching in amusement as his Genie grasped the Armored Lizard by the neck and slammed it down into the Arena floor, causing it do disintegrate within moments. Along with it went 300 of the Negative blonde's Life Points, bringing his score to a total of 3200. 

"No...." Saguru groaned softly to himself. He quickly recovered, however, and stood up straighter, muttering, "Your move, Kaiba."

The True Seto grinned again. "Of course." He watched the attack readings of his monster return to normal before he drew a new card, glanced at it, and spoke again. "I'll lay another card face down on the field," he murmured easily, following through with his action. "And I'll place one hidden monster in defense mode." He surveyed the Arena for a moment before hissing calmly, "I don't think I'll attack you, however. Though you destroyed my first Blue Eyes because I did the same thing, I'm still interested in keeping you alive in this duel a bit longer." His dark smile told those watching that he intended to make Saguru feel humiliated throughout the remainder of the duel, as well.

Saguru frowned. "If you're done then, I'll move," he said evenly. Kaiba nodded, and the Negative across from him drew a new card, glancing at it. Another monster; he seemed to be drawing quite a few of them lately. It's stats would fit his needs perfectly, he noted, as he ran over the cards in his hand again.

"I'll place Uraby in attack mode," he began, slapping the card down on the Field board with a flourish. In a blast of light, the next monster made it's appearance, it's hissing growl the first thing to come into existence. It looked much like a velociraptor, though the gigantic toe-claw on the ancient creature was missing, instead replaced by three regular-sized claws--though each was as sharp as a knife. It was a deep, rich brown in color, with dark black stripes slashing up and down it's arms, legs, back, and tail. Long, jagged teeth filled it's large jaws, and it's small, ruby-red eyes contained pupils much like slits. It's 1500 attack points, shown on the reading next to it, fit it well; it looked dangerous and speedy at the same time.

"In addition," Saguru continued, "I'll activate my Trap card." He flipped the purple-colored card, revealing an illustration of several armored men charging into battle. "Reinforcements," he said calmly, reading the title of the card. "It raises my monster's attack points by 500 when I activate it for one turn--that brings my Uraby up to 2000 attack points, just enough to demolish your La Jinn." A ghost of a smile past over his lips before he gave the command. "Uraby, attack his Genie!"

With a beast's angry roar, the velociraptor leaped forward, slashing outwards with it's sharp claws and cutting through the La Jinn's smoke-like form in a flourish. The Genie yelled out in pain before rearing backwards and disappearing, finally defeated. On the scoreboard overhead, Kaiba's Life Points dropped to 2000, leaving him only 1200 points behind his opponent.

Kaiba only grinned. "Not bad," he said evenly, "But here the duel ends." Seeing Saguru's questioning look, he laughed. "Allow me to unfold my own turn," he said evenly, drawing. He placed the card in his hand and continued. "First," he said slowly, "I switch Saggi the Dark Clown to attack mode." The previously unknown monster was suddenly revealed, showing a darkly-dressed clown in strange-looking clothes and with it's face painted with unusual shapes. It's attack stats read at a low 600 points, though it didn't seem that it would be using them. 

"Next," Kaiba continued, "I'll activate my Trap card, Ultimate Offering." He flipped the card over, showing a rather unusual image of one monster forming out of the side of a second's head. "With this card, once I pay 500 Life Points per monster, I can give myself an extra Normal Summon. I think I'll use it now and save my given Summon for later." He grinned and watched as his Life Points dwindled down to 1500 before taking a monster from his hand and placing it on the field. "Mystic Horseman, in attack mode!"

Another monster rose out over the field, it's form like that from a myth. Standing at 1300 attack points, the creature looked much like a centaur, though it's skin had a dark hue, and the horse section's fur was a deep brown. In one hand, the creature bore a long-handled, double-bladed axe. It pawed at the Arena floor in anticipation, as though getting ready.

Saguru already knew what was coming. _Oh, man, _he hissed to himself. _Neither monster can actually defeat my Uraby....but since he's been saving his given Summon, then that means..._

Kaiba grinned as he saw his opponent work out what was about to happen. "I sacrifice my Mystic Horseman and Saggi the Dark Clown to summon my _second _Blue Eyes White Dragon."

As with before, both monsters on the field screamed in agony as they were absorbed to pay for a much larger creature. The Dark Clown gave one of it's demented shrieks of pain, curling in on itself, while the Mystic Horseman bucked and kicked frantically. Without warning, they were both enveloped by light, and within seconds a Tribute Gateway had been opened once more. Roaring defiantly, the second Blue Eyes clawed it's way out of the Gateway, identical to the first down to the last gleaming white scales and sharpened claws.

"There is no escaping this time, _Saguru,_" Kaiba hissed angrily, as his dragon roared it's agreement. "You have no Traps to hide behind this time." His dark smile widened slightly. "Blue Eyes White Dragon, attack his Uraby with White Lighting!"

With an almighty roar, the Blue Eyes lurched it's head back, charging up the pure light energy in fiendish glee. When the attack was at it's fullest, the creature's head lowered, and the energy exploded outwards in a rush. The Uraby was enveloped fully by the attack, and did not even have the chance to cry out in pain before it was completely out of sight. When the attack faded away, the dinosaur Monster was completely gone, evaporated, and Saguru's Life Points had retreated to a scarce 1700.

"Your turn," Kaiba hissed, still laughing. "See if you can worm your way out of this one, you canine."

Saguru didn't allow the insult to anger him, but rather turned to his Deck. He took a deep breath and drew his final card, hoping desperately that it was something that could help him. 

At first, he was disappointed. It wasn't a monster card that he had drawn, and he was sure that it was the end of the duel for him. However, within a few moments he was studying his newly drawn card closely. He glanced between it and a card already in his hand before observing his opponent's Life Points closely. Maybe...maybe it _would _work. 

"First," he announced slowly, "I'll place this card face down." The card was slipped into the Magic and Trap zone quickly, and he continued. "Then I'll play this Magic card, Ookazi!"

Without warning, a rumble resounded around the Arena, and in the next instant holographic flames seemed to appear out of nowhere. They burned the air just in front of Kaiba's dueling compartment, and the CEO felt the pressure of a Direct Attack on his Life Points. 

"Ookazi?" He hissed, questioning.

Saguru nodded. "It takes 800 points directly from your Life Points in a Direct Attack." He indicated the scoreboard, where Kaiba's Life Points had dropped to a scarce 700. "And that will end my turn."

The True Seto laughed. "Not bad, lowering my Life so far, but you should have known it wouldn't have gotten you anywhere in the end." He grinned broadly. "You've left yourself open to a Direct Attack, you fool! But mistakes don't go unpunished by me," he hissed, his icy eyes glittering darkly. "Now you'll pay for it. Blue Eyes, attack his Life Points directly!"

With another resounding roar, the Blue Eyes complied, charging up it's pure light attack. With a quick snap of it's serpentine neck, it discharged the energy, sending it exploding into Saguru's dueling compartment and making him rock back on his feet. 

"You see?" Kaiba asked, his dark grin still in place. "You couldn't defeat me. I just reduced your Life Points to zero in a single blast."

"True, you did, Kaiba," the Negative Joey said easily. "However..." his hands moved casually to the card he had placed face-down. "Did you forget about this?"

The CEO frowned. "What is it?"

Saguru's grin could have matched Kaiba's, the way it was plastered across his face. "It's called 'Attack and Receive.' When an opponent Directly attacks my Life Points, this Trap card in turn does 700 Direct Damage to my _opponent's _Life Points. And guess how many Life Points you have, Kaiba?"

The True Seto stared in shock at the scoreboard. "S-seven hundred..." he was still staring in shock as his own Life Points dwindled down to zero as well.

"Exactly."

The others on the sidelines could not hide their own surprise as well. They all observed the scoreboard for what seemed like ages, unable to believe the spectacular duel they had just seen.

Saguru and Kaiba had come down to an exact tie.

*****

The group had returned in silence to Kaiba's office, absolutely nobody speaking, but each with thoughts spinning as fast as lightning. Once they reached the office, however, voices began to break loose.

"I don't believe it!" Joey yelled, still in shock, as he confronted his Negative self. "You actually came into a _tie _with Kaiba! A _tie! _That's next to impossible!"

"Not really," his opposite counterpart replied, though the ghost of a grin passed over his face. His serious composure remained, however, despite the chatter that was whirling around him.

Yugi and Yami quickly approached the blonde pair. "That," the ancient spirit said calmly, "was an excellent duel. I have seen few more interesting."

"Thanks, but it's really not that important," Saguru replied simply. Yugi and Joey stared at him as if he was mad, but he ignored them easily.

Kaze, meanwhile, was standing off to the side, talking quietly to Kaiba. "So then, you agree to hold to your end of the wager?"

Kaiba sighed. "Of course," he muttered. He still looked a little angry, but covered it without too much trouble. "That was one of my more humiliating defeats, but I'm a man of my word, and I made the wager fair and square." He sighed before continuing. "For the rest of your remainder in our Realm, I will not insult either version of Joey."

The Opposition leader nodded. "Thank you," he said, his voice easy. Almost as if trying to reassure the CEO, he added, "You really were at a small disadvantage against him. He knew all of your cards and some of your strategies because I trained him; you, however, did not have the same kind of information."

"A duel is a duel," Kaiba replied, somewhat stubbornly. Kaze let the matter rest, turning instead to face the rest of the group. Mokuba in particular caught his attention; his brother, albeit his in another Realm, still looked confused. The Blue Eyes could see easily enough why; on one hand, Mokuba's brother had won, but on the other he had lost. He grinned slightly before moving to sit down in the over-stuffed chair he had occupied earlier.

Quite suddenly, there came a knock at the door. Kawari opened it quickly, and Tristen and Tea stepped through into the now-full office. 

"Hey, guys--" Tea began cheerfully, but stopped as she stared at the doubled Joeys, Kaibas, and Ryous, along with the kinder-looking Bakura. 

"What is going _on _here?" Tristen yelped in surprise, focusing on his best friend in particular--or rather, the two versions of him.

"Long story, Tristen," Joey replied, chuckling. "You remember Yugi's story about his travels to the Negative Realm?" Both Tristen and Tea nodded, and he continued. "These guys came through from the Negative Realm to our own Realm. As a result, we've got doubles of the same person." 

"I...see..." it was Tea who spoke; though she clearly understood the explanation, she still looked a little surprised, and was looking at Ryou and Kawari in her shock.

"But why _are _they here?" Tristen asked, curious. 

"That," Kaeru said slowly, "was what Yami was about to explain to us."

The Pharaoh nodded. "Right." After a few quick introductions to the Negative Realm beings and their new names, Yami began his explanation.

"I believe the four of you were brought here because of the Realms' Balance. This was a theory that I thought up after Yugi had returned from your Realm on his own adventure. I believe that, when one particular Realm cannot take care of itself on it's own, the Realms' Balance is put into play, and other beings from other Realms--usually the needy Realm's reflection--will come to aid the Realm in repairing itself." At the Negative beings' nods, he continued. "It seems to make sense in Yugi's case. Your Realm could not help itself against the dangers it faced--a magic user taking too much power and control--and so a person from the outside was called in to help." He thought for a second before continuing. "In addition," he said slowly, "I believe that this Realms' Balance will _only _call in those that it needs to help other Realms. This could very well explain why I was not taken into your Negative Realm with Yugi--I wasn't needed, and Yugi could solve the problem on his own."

Kaze nodded, a musing look on his face. "It makes logical sense," he said, after a few second's pause. "Nature is constantly trying to balance itself out, and I don't see how Realms would be any different."

"But if this is the case," Kaeru broke in, "then what is the cause for the Realms' Balance here? Have you found it yet?"

Yami frowned slowly, giving Yugi and Kaiba quick glances before speaking. "I'm almost positive I know the answer to that question." When no one objected, he continued speaking. "The other night, we had problems with the Shadow Realm. A monster was released from the Shadow Realm without the direction of a Millennium Item user, and it nearly killed my Aibou and Kaiba before I managed to stop it. At the same time, it temporarily blocked me out of the Millennium Puzzle. As a result, I believe the magic in the Shadow Realm has become to great for it to contain, and that it is overflowing to try and spread out some of it's power."

Kaeru looked instantly concerned. "If it's _that _big a problem, there's no wonder we were brought over." He sighed momentarily, looking around at the large group before voicing his thoughts. "If the Shadow Realm's magic is overflowing, then we'll have to seal up the cracks the magic is getting through, and find some way to filter the magic so it won't build up in the future."

Yami nodded. "Very true. Unfortunately, there is a problem with that. I have no idea as to how to accomplish such a thing."

Silence dominated the room quite suddenly, and each person retreated into his or her own thoughts. However, without warning Kaze suddenly grabbed Yugi's wrist, asking slowly, "Was there a voice that spoke to you when you traveled through those Realm gateways?"

Yugi frowned momentarily before nodding slowly. "Yeah, there was. Why?"

"I think I heard it as well." Kaze's forehead creased in concentration as he murmured slowly, "It gave me a sentence of some sort and told me to remember it. It was...it was...ah, I remember now. 'Search for the Seven Leaders of the Realms.'"

Mokuba piped up from his silence. "The Seven Leaders of the Realms? What's that supposed to mean?"

Saguru, however, broke in suddenly. "Wait! I think that voice said something similar to me...except mine was worded differently. I think it was...I think it was, 'Gather the Seven Scrolls of Control.'"

Yugi spoke quickly. "It must be a warning, or a clue," he said, thinking out loud. "That voice, whatever it is, never lies, and never speaks without reason."

Tea volunteered her idea. "What if they're the same thing? What if the Seven Leaders of the Realms are also the Seven Scrolls of Control?"

"Seven Realm Scrolls of Control," Joey repeated, tying the two sentences together. "Kinda catchy, but has anybody ever _heard _of them?"

Kaze opened his mouth to speak, but abruptly his mouth went slack and his eyes glazed over. He looked as though his mind had been brushed gently aside to make way for another, though of course such a thing would have been impossible. 

He began to speak, slowly and clearly, though his words were strange; though they were obviously Egyptian, each member in the room could understand it perfectly in Japanese. His tone had changed, too, and he sounded more dignified, almost ancient--much like Yami. "_Seven Masters of the Realms, created for the good of all, and for the destruction of all. Each forged of the raw Elements that created the Realms; each with it's own unique powers. Desire, War, Passion, Hatred, Fate, Death, and Time. Alone, each has power unimaginable. Together, each has power invincible. So the records say, so it shall be._"

Each member in the group stared at him in shock, with the exception of the Negative beings. Kaze did not seem to notice them; however, rather, he seemed to be just coming around, as though he were waking up. He blinked quickly, sitting up straighter, and looked around, mumbling, "What?"

Kaeru chuckled. "Don't act so surprised, Kaze."

The Blue Eyes frowned momentarily before cursing. "Dammit, I did it again, didn't I?"

Kaeru nodded, still grinning. "Indeed you did." Kawari and Saguru were now sharing his grin, acting as if the entire occurrence was all one big joke. 

Kaze, however, found it far from entertaining. He began mumbling slowly under his breath, hissing things in a rather angry fashion, and muttering to Kaiba that he was lucky he didn't have to deal "with this."

Yami looked a bit confused, yet he seemed to be grasping what had just happened slowly. He opened his mouth to ask Kaze about what had just happened, but Kaeru elbowed him roughly in the ribs, hissing, "Don't push him into thinking about it. He'll turn into a loose cannon if you mention it right now. Not fun, believe me." Yami sighed in exasperation, but nodded, not wanting to pass up the Negative's advice.

Yugi, meanwhile, had started up a new conversation. "What was that whole statement about, Kaze?" he asked slowly. 

"I'm...not sure," the Blue Eyes muttered, looking down at the floor.

Kawari snickered. "That would be because he can't remember a damn thing he just said," he chuckled, smirking. Kaze gave him a rather flat, dry look, which Kawari steadfastly ignored.

Kaeru, however, had seemed to understand. He turned to Yami quickly, hissing, "The legends. Do you remember them?"

The pharaoh nodded carefully. "I do." He carefully gathered his thoughts together before explaining to the entire group. "Thousands of years before Kaeru or I even existed, seven all-powerful items were supposedly created, which in turn created the Realms. They were hundreds upon hundreds of times more powerful than the Millennium Items, but were hidden away for reasons that mere mortals, or even immortal Earthly spirits such as myself and Kaeru, could not understand. They have not been found since, or at least so the records say."

Kaeru picked up the story. "The Scrolls, these seven all-powerful items, are said to have powerful spells written within them, which have long since been lost. They could, however, change the way of existence, which may have been the reason that they were hidden away by higher beings. If such messages as we heard were relayed to Kaze and Saguru, then it is probably safe to say we are supposed to find the Scrolls and use one of their spells to fix the Shadow Realm."

"The problem," Yami concluded, "is that we don't know where the Scrolls _are._"

This rather unfortunate remark set the room into silence once more, with most of the members of the group fidgeting uncomfortably in the quiet.

Without warning Kawari shot straight up, standing in a rigid position and eyes wide. "I can't believe I didn't remember!"

Kaeru frowned. "Remember what?"

His hikari explained quickly. "That weird voice spoke to me as well when we went through the Realm Gate. It told me it was giving me a clue, and advised me to follow it to what I was to search for. It's a long verse, though." He frowned for a minute to recollect his thoughts carefully; Kaiba took the time to stride over to his computer and open a word document, holding his fingers posed and ready over the keyboard.

After several seconds of pure silence, Kawari slowly began to recite his own message from the Gate's voice.

"The First you desire, and Desire am I,

I live and dwell and feel the sky

I watch the sun as it bleeds away,

as Night battles on and defeats the day

I know the Wind, when it feels joy or scorn,

Or when it angers, and battles, a raging storm

I live where the boundaries lie, a wall of it's own

A massive boulder of dirt and stone

The Dragon guards me. A warning, I say:

You may Desire, but loose not your way."

As Kawari finished speaking, the silence seemed to reign eternal, with the last words he spoke hanging off the edge of the quiet in eerie stillness. Slowly, the sounds of Kaiba's fingers clicking over the keyboard registered in the group's minds, and they watched him intently, not sure what else to do.

With a flourish, Kaiba finished typing, clicking the "print" button in a rush and waiting impatiently by the printer. When the one, single sheet had been ejected, he brought it over to the rest of the group, the ink still glistening. They realized that he had typed up the verse Kawari had recited, so as to make it easier for the entire group.

Each of them stared at the verse for what seemed like ages. No one seemed to be able to understand the little poem at all; though they knew it was a clue, they did not know much else. Finally, Ryou voiced everyone's thought for them all in one smooth, clear sentence.

"What on Earth is it supposed to mean?"

*****

HCG: *snickers* I am evil! Lookit the cliffy! Are you not hanging off the edge of your seat?

Kaze: ¬_¬;; Or perhaps falling off the edge of it from laughing at your above statement?

HCG: _;; You stupid...meanie head!

Kaze: *breaks into laughter and proceeds to fall off his seat as he had earlier mentioned* What a stupid insult! Come on, I don't even _enjoy _insulting people and I'm better than that!

HCG: Oh, put a cork in it. Now for notes:

1) I am _incredibly _sorry that this chapter took so long. My only excuse is schoolwork. Since it's the end of the quarter at my school, all the teachers think it's fun to assign four tests on the same day and to give lots of big projects -_-;; As a result, I spent most of last week working on those, and what little time of mine was free I felt either like crud or not like writing. I did, however, spend ALL of Wednesday after I got home writing, all so I could get this EXTREMELY LONG CHAPTER out for you guys...I only let myself leave the computer for dinner and my chores. So there you have it. Wasn't it worth the wait?

2) Heh heh heh, what'd'ya think of my Duel scene? I don't think it turned out too bad, though there _is _a mistake in there. I'm not going to point it out. Actually, tell you what, that'll be a challenge for you. Find the Duelist's mistake, and you get....erm....a hug from your favorite Negative Realm bishie?

Kawari: O_O;; OOOOOOOOOH Crap

3) Well now, can any of you figure out what happened to Kaze? It's very simple, actually, nothing particularly outrageous. The answer lies in the logic. Just think about it--if Kaiba is or isn't something, or does or doesn't do something, Kaze is or does the opposite. Now see if you can figure it out. Those who guess correctly get a free gift basket full of sugar, chocolate, and plushies ^_~ (And Aibou, you know the answer already, so it's kinda not fair for you, but whatever...)

4) Anybody good at riddles out there? Can you solve the riddle above? I'll give you a hint--it's one of the Seven Elements, and a place. If you guess it correctly, you get the above gift of a gift basket ^_^ 

5) Hey, we're back to the duel scene! This is a random comment: It was fun to write, but a bitch to plan out. Excuse my swearing. I wouldn't advise planning out a duel mathematically, especially if you want it to come to a tie ¬_¬;; I'm NEVER doing it again..

HCG: Okay, that's it for the notes! *blinks and focuses suddenly on Kaeru and Bakura, who are both lying on the floor and looking exhausted*

Bakura: *gasp* *pant* Truce?

Kaeru: *pant* *gasp* Okay, sure....

Bakura: That's *pant* good. I *pant* would've had to beat the *gasp* crud out of you otherwise....

Kaeru: If you weren't so *gasp* far away and I wasn't *pant* so tired, I'd freaking hit you.

Bakura: Whatever.

HCG: ¬_¬;; Ooookay...

Kaiba: *sighs* Well, anyway. Reviews, people! HCG will not write until she has at least one review, preferably five, though she won't get picky. Reviews may perhaps ensure a new chapter quicker, however. And see if you can answer the questions!


	6. Desire's Battle

HCG: 'Ello, all! Look who's back!

Kawari: Hmm....now I wonder who it could be? -_-;;

HCG: *shocked* It's me! ME!

Kawari: You know, Kaiba's right. I think I'm going to help him teach you about sarcasm.

HCG: ^_^ Okies!

Kaeru: *sighs* *rolls eyes*

HCG: Okay, well, anyway, I'm back with another chapter--NUMBA 6! YAY!

Kaiba: ¬_¬;; Yeah. Yay. 

HCG: Anyway. *crickets chirp* hm.......nothing much is happening today, is there?

Kaze: Were you expecting something different?

HCG: Well, not exactly, but there's always been _some _excitement. I mean, last chapter we got to watch Kaeru chase Bakura around with a baseball bat!

Kawari: Oh yeah, that's right.....*raises eyebrow at his yami* What _happened _to that whole thing, anyway?

Kaeru: *looking sheepish* *shrugs* We called a truce, remember? And then we started talking about different places we've robbed, and I made a few good trades with him on some loot, and--

Kawari: x_X You're hopeless.

Kaeru: What?!

HCG: o_O Anyway....*sighs* Notes to peoples!

FIRSTLY, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, thanks to **Lizeth** for sending me this awesome picture of Kawari fan-art! It's such an awesome-looking picture, and Kawari looks so cool....*drools*

Kawari: o_O Stop that. You're scaring me.

HCG: *shakes head* Anyway, here's the picture if you want to see it. And *steals Malik's M. Rod* *waves it at readers* You _know _you want to see it! You _know _you do! Go to my bio and it'll be on there….first link, you can't miss it

*stares at picture* Purdy....

Kawari: o_O;;;;; *pushes in next note* Let's get a move on HCG, come on!

**Silver Angel ~** Liked the duel scene, eh? That's good, I'm glad somebody enjoyed it at least. NEVER EVER EVER try to write a tied-ending duel, though, EVER. EVER.

Kaze: -_-;; We get the point.

HCG: EVER!

Kawari: *sighs* Continue....

**Wingleader Sora Jade ~ **Nice try for the riddle, but unfortunately it's not true. Good guess though, I can see where you'd get the idea ^_~ However...for my _other _question, "What happened to Kaze?" you pretty much got the answer. It's not exact, because quite frankly nobody's been into my mind and scoped out my countless theories, but you've gotten close enough, so....*hands her the promised gift basket full of sugar, chocolate, and Negative Realm Plushies*

Now, as for the Elements--like I said in my Email when I first asked you, I'm not using the Elements connected to the Millennium Items. Though I'll probably throw in a few weird twists to make some connections between your fics and mine. (I.E., when the Scroll of Fate comes into play, I'll probably have Ryou or Kawari find it, as Fate is "their element" in your own fictions). 

Kawari: x_X chibi?! NO! NONONONONONO!

HCG: Oh, pipe down, it's not that bad. Geeze, you make it sound like torture.

Kawari: IT CALLED ME _DADDY! _WHAT AM I _SUPPOSED _TO DO?!

Kaeru: ¬_¬;; I'd laugh at this point, but she's Chibi-fied me too, so....

**Anime Girl ~ **Hmm, another interesting take on the riddle. I like yours a lot; it's very interesting....and I've always liked the moon. I'd probably go with this one, but since I have no way for my characters to _get _to the moon, I'm afraid I'll have to say this is wrong. Nice try though ^_~ And I'm glad you like my fic, and the "Bakura Battle". 

Kaeru: I liked it too. I just wish I could've _won...._*scowls*

**Silver Fang ~ **You didn't think I was that late? Well...*looks around secretivly*...I was a week off schedule, but...*looks both ways* shhhh! Don't tell! And yeah, it was long x_X I would like SOMEBODY or SOMETHING to answer me and tell me WHY my chapters keep increasing in length. NYAH!

Kaiba: *blinks* I'll take an HCG banner. Perhaps if I have one, HCG'll think I support her and I'll be freed!

HCG: Naw, I'll just love ya more ^_^

Kaiba: -_-;;

**YumeTakato ~ **Hey, somebody that likes NR Joey/Saguru! That's good, as he feels pretty left out right now o_O;; Anyway, here's your next chapter...will I end with a cliffie? Only time will tell ^_~

Kaiba: The answer is most likely yes -_-;;

HCG: *claps hand over his mouth* Kaiba, _you're _not supposed to tell. _Time _is!

Kaiba: *holds up Scroll of Time* *talks with mouth still covered* Mmmphf!

HCG: *horrified* And you don't have that yet either! *snatches it away and hides it*

Kaiba: _;; MNMFH!

**Silver Dragon Gold Dragon ~ **x_X yeah, I know how limited online time is. You tracked down and read my Negative story quickly, then? Very good ^_~ Thank you for taking your limited time to read my story ^_^

**Shiney Mew ~ **I'm sorry I didn't reply to your last review, but it kinda confused me a little o_O;; Well, anyway, here's a new reply. Oh, and about your Yugi comment--yes, I can understand you wanting him to have a stronger/better role. I assure you, he will have more of a role later in the fiction, but I'm trying to write a story where some of the 'on the side' characters get a bit of notice as well (Tristen, Tea, Mokuba, etc.) So don't be _too _surprised if Yugi isn't in here as much as you'd like.

**Daricio ~ **Wow, you wrote a lot. Let's see...okay, first up, yes, there are people that are dead in THIS Realm and alive in the Negative one. I haven't actually taken the time to think up detailed histories and the like, but I can give you a good example--Ryou's sister. SHE'S ALIIIIIVE! NYAHAHAHAH!

Kawari: o_O;; OOooookay then....

Now, speaking of Ryou. You say that his shock is lasting too long, and that he should speak more. Well, from what I've picked up on his personality, it would be a bit of a shock for him to come face-to-face with a kinder version of his Yami _and _his own opposite. He's got twice the shock to deal with. As for his speaking in the show a lot....well, no offense to the WB or anything, but really, Ryou's part in the Duelist Kingdom arc is flat-out lame. Apparently, in the Japanese version he's not nearly so much like that, but his role in the dub is just..ugh. He points out the obvious too much. I feel like throwing my keyboard at the screen and yelling, "YES, YES I can see that his Life Points are nearly gone! I can TELL he's in a rough position!" -_-;;

Kawari: _;; Done ranting about my True Self yet?

HCG: Sure thing. Oh, and thanks for trying to get rid of my homework. Unfortunately, it didn't work, but that's okay...the major tests are all done now ^_^

HCG: Anyway, that's it for the individual comments. Now for the general. Two good guesses for the riddle, nice job, guys! And the rest of you should've tried....seriously! Anyway, you'll find out the real answers in a minute. Promise ^_~

Oh, hey, and WSJ--I was tempted to throw in a _funny _little pun in this fic, but decided against it. I'm sure you'll pick up where it comes in anyway, but whatever...

Kaze: Done?

HCG: No. I still need some excitement here. I know! *opens up a Realm Gate* *NR Yami falls through*

Kaze, Kawari, & Kaeru: o_O;;

HCG: HIYA!

NR Yami: *blinks* Oh.....hello.....*wanders off to corner and sits*

HCG:....he's really boring.

Kaze: *points to his speech in Ch. 3* He's healed and depressed, 'member?

HCG: *blinks* Oh, that's right.....

Kawari: Will you get to the fic already?!

HCG: Oh yeah. Kaiba! Disclaimer!

Kaiba: *still with mouth covered* Mmphf mmmmphf mmm mumff mmmmphf mumff! Mmpfh Mummmmphf mum-mumff! Mmm-Mmm-Mummpfh!

HCG: Uuuuum.......what?

Kaze: *sighs* I'll do it. HCG does not own Yu-Gi-Oh or it's characters. The Negative Realm, the characters' personalities from there, and _Negative Chaos' _plot belong to her. The Seven Elements belong to Wingleader Sora Jade, though the Scrolls they're 'working with' belong to HCG. Shall we begin, then?

HCG: Sure, why not? *places fic down and stalks off towards NR Yami* I'm gonna make him less boring...*holds out her editors' pen, the beautiful, wonderful tool of all writers love*

Kawari: This can't be good...*sigh*

**Kawari ~ **NR Ryou

**Kaeru ~ **NR Bakura

**Kaze ~ **NR Kaiba

**Saguru ~ **NR Joey

Notes:

/word/ ~ Yugi to Yami

//word// ~ Yami to Yugi

_italicized words are thoughts or dreams/memories_

_'word' ~ _transmitted thoughts between doubles....you'll understand this later

*gasp* No super-notes today! I would fill up the silence before we begin, but...*cringe* I'm not interested in getting hurt today. Roll fic!

Negative Chaos

Chapter 6: Desire's Battle

            "What on Earth is it supposed to mean?"

            Each of the twelve figures around the room pondered the same thing, glancing over the Realm verse furiously, as if expecting it to give way and suddenly flash them the answer. Much to their dismay, it did not, and they were left to try and figure out the puzzle on their own. None of them could make heads or tails of the verse, with it's twisted meanings and poetic lines. They were all shocked that such a tiny, flimsy little piece of paper and it's ten lines could be the perfect guard to one of the most powerful items on Earth itself. 

            Finally, after nearly ten minutes of silence, Joey voiced his frustration. "Forget it! This is impossible. There's _no _way we are _ever _going to figure out this stupid verse!"

            Yami replied quietly, his strong voice somehow reassuring. "Nothing is impossible, Joey. It's only a trick, and we've just go to figure it out."

            "Yeah, sure," the blonde teen muttered. Yami, on the other hand, grinned.

            "The Millennium Puzzle was also thought to be impossible. Yet I believe Yugi here defied what was thought, and succeeded. We just have to keep trying." 

            Joey sighed, but nodded slowly, sending his long blonde bangs shaking. "Alright. Fine. We'll see if we can crack this before five thousand years have passed like _your _Puzzle."

            The silence returned as the group leaned closer to the thin sheet of paper, reading over the verse for what had to be the hundredth time. Yugi, Yami, Kaze, and Kaiba all seemed the most interested in the riddle, as each had a mind suited for solving puzzles and using logic. The others, too, showed their eagerness to find an answer to the verse, but not so much as the leading four. 

            Ryou sighed as he ran over the verse in his head, having now memorized it after reading it too many times. He absent-mindedly ran over a few inventive solutions to the problem, all of which made no sense whatsoever. He sighed again and tried to bully his mind back into thinking logically, but it seemed almost impossible--the riddle was just too far away for him to grasp, to understand.

            He let his thoughts drift, still vaguely thinking over the problem, but not showing nearly as much effort as before. As he wandered over the lines of the verse in his head, he suddenly found himself thinking a most startling phrase.

            _'I can't believe he'd call himself a Yami spirit. I swear, if he tries anything like that again, I'll do something, and I don't care if my _own _Yami's dragging me around by the collar or not.'_

            Ryou blinked, surprised. That was certainly strange; that thought had popped into his head quite suddenly, almost as if _he _had created it, but--it wasn't his. He frowned, glancing around the room suspiciously, but also with an air of confusion.

            Kaeru noticed "his" aibou's surprised look and raised and eyebrow, curious. "What's the matter?"

            "I'm not sure...I just thought something, but....I didn't."

            The Negative tomb robber frowned. "Excuse me? Could you repeat that?"

            Ryou sighed. "I just had this really weird thought pass through my head...it _felt _like I was 'creating' it, but I know I never caused it."

            Kawari tilted his head slightly to the side, expressing his own confusion. "That's strange. It wasn't your yami, was it?"

            The True hikari shook his head, sending his long white hair rippling around his shoulders in a fury. "No, he's brooding in his soul room. I don't think it was him, unless he's gotten careless enough to lower the mind-link, and he _never _does that."

            His Negative shrugged, waving his black-gloved hand around absent-mindedly. "Probably just a fluke. If you were just letting your mind wander, you probably thought whatever it was without registering it first."

            Ryou nodded, though doubtfully, and settled back into his over-stuffed chair, thinking over the riddle once more. It had barely been five seconds when the occurrence happened again.

            _'Dammit, what's wrong with him now? If that 'yami spirit' is doing something to him...he's going to get it. But I wonder what's causing this sudden bought of thoughts appearing mysteriously?'_

            The white-haired teen jumped suddenly. "It happened again!"

            Kaeru frowned. "I don't think this is a fluke, then. What was the thought? Perhaps that would help."

            Ryou repeated the latest mystery phrase, trying to ignore the fact that everybody was staring at him now. He did notice, however, when Kawari's mouth opened in surprise, and the black-clad Negative sat up an inch straighter. "What?!"

            The True hikari frowned. "What's the matter?"

            Kawari blinked widely, his eyes loosing their deadly, glittering appearance for one moment and harboring their classic, innocent look before retreating to it's original one. "That...that's what _I _just thought a few seconds ago!"

            Ryou shared his disbelieving shock. "But...but how would that work out? It doesn't make sense!"

            "Actually..."

            Three white-haired figures turned to face where the voice had come from. The owner was soon identified as Kaiba, Kaze next to him glancing from Kawari to Ryou and back, frowning.

            "What?"

            Kaiba continued slowly. "It _might _be possible. Realm theories could leave an opening for it, I suppose." He exchanged glances with his Negative before continuing. "I think that Negative beings can hear the strongest of their True Self's thoughts, and vice versa."

            Yugi frowned. "Like a mind link?"

            Kaze shook his head. "No, no," he corrected. "A thought link. I don't think a Negative can hold a regular conversation with his opposite, or the other way around. I believe the thoughts would come at random, depending on how powerful the owner of that thought is thinking it. There is no control, unless you force yourself to think _extremely _strongly and concentrate on one particular thought."

            Tea frowned. "Are you sure?"

            Kaiba smiled slightly. "Not exactly, but there _is _one way to find out." He turned to his Negative, saying calmly, "I'll focus on one particular thought, and you tell me what it is." The Blue Eyes nodded quietly, and Kaiba closed his eyes, concentrating.

            Seconds later, a quick look of surprise passed over Kaze's face. He frowned momentarily, showing his shock, but erased the expression from his face easily. He then spoke, though slowly. "You're planning on entering a second control chip into the card reading slot on your latest Duel Disk System, so that the card readings are clearer, and thus the holograms more accurate." Kaiba nodded, his shock registering only slightly, much like his opposite's. The Opposition leader grinned slightly, murmuring, "I think that experiment is a success, then."

            "But _why _does it happen?" Mokuba piped up, watching his brothers, Negative and True, with extreme interest.

            Kaiba frowned slowly, pondering over the new question. Finally he spoke, though his voice wavered slightly, as if he was unsure. "Maybe it's how the Realm is reacting to two of the same person existing in one dimension."

            "What?" The black-haired boy's face creased into one of confusion.

            Seto continued, smiling a bit at his brother's face. "What I mean is, this Realm--the True Realm--is used to having only _one _of each person in each dimension. Because of this, it knows how to keep each separate, individual person's mind to themselves--excluding, of course, any other interferences, like magical interferences. To compare it to a computer, the entire Realm will process one person's thoughts and keep it separate from others. However, when you bring a _second _of the same person into one Realm..." he trailed off slightly, motioning with his hands as if to illustrate a point. "Then you've got a problem. The Realm recognizes two of the same person, with the same structure, but they've got different memories. It's confused, so to speak. It will try to keep the two minds separate, like they _should _be, considering they're two different minds altogether--but occasionally it will look at the two as one mind, one being, and it's confusion will get the better of it, one mind's thoughts and emotions will pass over onto another's. Only the strongest can break the block the Realm's trying to hold, though." He frowned slightly. "Did that make sense?"

            "Pretty much," Mokuba said, nodding quickly. "I think I understand." The rest of the group nodded their agreement.

            "So then," Saguru murmured slowly, "If memories and emotions'll cross over without any warning, then it'd probably be best to tone down our thoughts...so we don't bug our opposites."

            "Makes sense," Joey agreed, grinning. "Though I don't mind if you accidentally transfer a thought to me." Saguru returned his grin before the two of them returned to the verse, trying to decipher it once more. The others, after taking their thought-link suggestion, followed suit, trying to puzzle out their current situation.

            Another twenty minutes passed in silence as the group read and re-read the verse, baffled over it's meaning. The Negatives and their opposites were rather detached from the rest of the group, as most of them were trying to slow down the rapid-fire traffic of their minds--thoughts were being traded left and right without their owners meaning for it to happen, and there were constant apologies. Soon, though, they learned to harness their thoughts, toning them down enough so that only an occasional exclamation of surprise or some other such high emotion would slip through. The only one that had trouble was Kaeru--he, too, had a link to Bakura, though the True spirit didn't seem to care whether his rather bloody, murderous thoughts were heard by others or not. The Negative tomb robber felt ready to snap, and had to fight to repress a mouthful of thought-out swears from being sent to his opposite. His only weapon against _that _happening was that he knew it would probably do more harm than good, and Ryou would probably be caught in the middle of it.

            Despite such problems from the True and Negative doubles, however, the rest of the group was still focused intently on the rhyme. Yugi in particular was scrutinizing the riddle, hoping that if he could solve the Puzzle, he would be able to solve the Verse as well. 

            His wish was soon granted, though not in full. After another five minutes had passed by with barely a sound, the young Hikari suddenly leaped out of his chair, exclaiming loudly.

            "We've been thinking about this the wrong way!"

            "What do you mean?" Yami asked skeptically, eyeing his charge with a bit of confusion.

            "I mean, we've been trying to figure out this riddle all the wrong ways. Look, it's telling us first what _Element _we're going after! Which _Scroll, _see?"

            Yami caught on quickly. "'The first you desire, and Desire am I.' It was right in front of us the entire time, and we didn't notice it?" He shook his head slightly before continuing. "So--the first Scroll we're searching for is the Scroll of Desire. It makes sense; it was one of the Seven Elements Kaze was chanting of." He frowned at the Negative CEO, who shifted slightly under the stare but said nothing.

            Yugi nodded. "Right! Okay, now I think I've also figured out this next line. 'I live and dwell and feel the sky.' I think this means that we're supposed to be looking somewhere relatively high up, somewhere where the sky is vastly important."

            "That could be almost anywhere, Yugi," Tea said, creasing her forehead in thought. 

            "True," Saguru put in, "But maybe the other lines will narrow it down." He read the next two lines loudly, in a clear voice. "'I watch the sun as it bleeds away, as Night battles on and defeats the day.'" He finished, cleared his throat, and looked around the room. "I don't know about the rest of you, but the sun bleeding away? It makes me think of a sunset. And after a sunset, night comes--it 'battles on' and defeats day."

            Joey nodded, catching on. "Right. So at the place we want to go you can see the sun set and night come."

            Tristen frowned. "But like Tea said...you can see that just about anywhere."

            Kawari shook his head in disagreement. "True, but what this poem is pointing out is probably a more noticeable location...a place where it's _particularly _noticeable, detailed, and the like."

            Tea repeated everything they'd discovered so far, as they were nearly halfway through the verse. "Okay, so we're looking for the Scroll of Desire. It's hidden somewhere we think is relatively high up, where the sun's setting and the night's coming are unusually noticeable."

            The Blue Eyes grinned. "Very good, at least we've gotten somewhere." He rubbed his hands together in an expression of readiness, continuing. "The next lines, I believe, strengthen our own guess that this area is high up. 'I know the Wind, when it feels joy or scorn, Or when it angers, and battles, a raging storm.' Wind, storms, it's all right here--all weather, all occurrences that happen high in the sky, yet still have some connection and effect on the ground."

            Kaeru added his own input. "That could very well indicate our area--high, yet connected to the low ground at the same time. It certainly does narrow down our choices, at any rate."

            The next two lines were not as easy. The group was determined to solve it, however, and gamely set to work on them, unwilling to give up after having come so far. Finally, after another two minutes, Ryou spoke.

            "I think I know," he murmured, shyly, staring down at the lines with intense interest. "'I live where boundaries lie, a wall of it's own, a massive boulder of dirt and stone.' Mountains."

            Yugi blinked. "How so?"

            The white-haired teen quickly sank into his reasoning. "Mountains often form natural boundaries for countries, and usually form a wall, often useful against enemy attacks and such. They come into history again and again. As for the second line, if you really think about it, a mountain _is _a huge pile of dirt and stone--it could even be considered a boulder in a broad sense."  

            Kaeru nodded quickly, catching on. "Of course," he said, "the logic involved is perfect." He, too, gathered their information and repeated it. "So, from the looks of it, we're trying to find a mountain or set of mountains. We want to be pretty high up on them to find this Scroll of Desire, where a sunset or something of the sort would be pretty easy to see, and very detailed." The others nodded, and he continued, looking down at the remainder of the verse. "What about the last two lines?"

            Yugi read them out loud for the benefit of the entire group. "'The Dragon guards me. A warning, I say: You may Desire, but loose not your way.'" He looked confused once he finished, and shook his head. "It _sounds _like a warning, just like it says...or the last line, at any rate. And what does it mean by a dragon guarding it? Dragons don't exist _here, _do they?"

            "I wouldn't think so," Yami answered dryly, "but there is always the chance that some fool summoned one from the Shadow Realm. In that case, it would _very _much exist."

            Kaze, however, shook his head, disagreeing. "I don't think that's what they meant," he said slowly. "I don't think they're talking about an actual _dragon_. I think it's supposed to symbolize a person or place; it happens often enough. Look at me," he said, shrugging. "People call me the Blue Eyes all the time, but that doesn't mean by any stretch that I'm related to the dragon." He ignored Kaiba's raised eyebrow at the nickname and awaited the rest of the group's comments.

            Tristen nodded in agreement. "He's right," he said, carefully running his thoughts over in his head. "But if that's the case, I don't think we can solve this riddle by sitting _here _and talking. I think we'll have to find this mountain first, and from there see if we can recognize this 'dragon.'"

            Ryou silently agreed as well, though he stayed still and did nothing. However, his calm attitude was broken when an abrupt thought crashed into his head. _'Hah, find the right mountain? Does he have any idea how many mountains there _are _out there?!' _Despite himself, the white haired teen chuckled, shooting his Negative a glance. The opposite hikari looked a little surprised, but mouthed the words, 'heard it, didn't you?' silently. Ryou nodded in response, and a smug grin took his Negative's face. 

            The same thought, however, was circling around the room. Everyone had apparently realized that they didn't know exactly _which _mountain to go to, and that they had no way to figure out which one they needed, other than an elusive 'dragon' they were still not even fully sure about. 

            Eventually, Mokuba broke out with a suggestion. "These Scrolls are supposed to be....erm...._really _old, aren't they?" he asked, directing his attention towards Kaeru and Yami. Both nodded, and he continued. "So we should go to the oldest mountain we know of nearby, first. Chances are it's not going to be hidden on a mountain that only formed a thousand years ago if it's older than even the spirits."

            The advice, though odd coming from an eleven-year-old, suited the group's needs perfectly. It was the work of a moment for Kaiba to connect to the internet and figure out what the oldest mountain in their region was; when he was done, he had printed the coordinates and other facts of the peak roughly forty to fifty miles away--Mount Volumen. 

            The next question to arrive came quickly--how would the group be transported to a mountain nearly fifty miles away in time? The solution came quickly from Kaiba; he offered to locate a pair of the company's helicopters for use, so long as he and his Negative could operate them. Fortunately, both versions of Seto Kaiba knew quite well how to fly a helicopter, and within moments the True CEO had called up his secretary, requesting that she reserve the two of the company's fastest flight transportation units. Once done, the twelve headed up to the KaibaCorp rooftop, where the open space harbored two ready helicopters. 

            Without hesitation, the group split up, each moving six to a helicopter, with one version of Kaiba in each. Mokuba, Tea, Ryou, Kaeru, and Kawari went with the True Seto, while Yugi, Yami, Joey, Saguru, and Tristen followed the Negative. 

            Moments after each figure had taken his or her seat and was prepared for the liftoff, the opposite Kaiba teens pulled into a practiced rise and swooped into the air. Communicating over the radios, they traded coordinates and flight paths, and within moments and both turned together to head in a Northwesterly direction.

                        *                      *                      *                      *                      *

            Nearly an hour of swift flying later, the twelvesome caught their first sight of Mount Volumen, their destination. It was a tall peak, sandwiched between two other smaller mountains, and surrounded eerily by wispy clouds at it's tip. Though it looked at first as if it had been untouched by humans, the group soon began to notice the small hiking trails spider-webbed all over the sides of the gigantic landmark underneath the vast amounts of trees that covered it. 

            Signaling to Kaze, Kaiba began to circle his helicopter in a slow circuit around the mountain, searching for a clearing in which to land. Unfortunately, he found none, and reported his findings back to his Negative.

            "We'll just have to land in the clearing at the mountain's foot and hike up," the Blue Eyes had replied simply, his voice staticy over the radio, but nonetheless full of determination. Kaiba sighed but reluctantly agreed, and followed his opposite as the helicopter lowered down into the small grassy field below. 

            The two flight units were landed easily, and within moments the entire group was climbing out into the bright sunlight, all their faces showing some eagerness--though to various degrees. Mokuba looked positively thrilled at the prospect of hiking up a mountain, while others, like Kaiba, looked rather annoyed at having their course put off target so far. The Negatives and Yami all bore the same resolute, determined look, appearing neither happy nor discouraged. 

            Turning, the entire group began to push their way up the side of the mountain, gathering together into a small bunch. They found a hiker's trail relatively quickly and soon followed it's path upwards, stopping every once and a while in order to let stragglers catch up to them, but never once faltering in their original path.

            When they were roughly half-way up the mountain nearly a half hour later, Kaze called for a halt. The hunting party then gathered together, some looking refreshed and energetic, while others were panting visibly and showing the strain. As before, none of the Negatives showed any strain whatsoever; though they may have been sweating lightly from the constant movement, none of them bore an expression of fatigue. 

            Kaze looked around carefully, observing the surrounding area with a practiced eye. He nodded slightly to himself, as if answering a question he had asked in his mind, and turned. "Okay. From here, keep your eyes peeled for any sign of this 'dragon' the verse speaks of. We want to find it quickly, if at all possible, so stay sharp."

            Yet, after another twenty minutes of searching, they still had proved unsuccessful. Finally, growing angry, Joey sighed. "We're _never _going to find anything at this rate."

            Surprisingly, Kaiba nodded, agreeing, and turned to his opposite. "He's right, you know," he said, though the words were slow, as though he hated to admit them. "The way we're doing this, we'd never find anything--it'd take a month to comb these trees like this. We need to spread out, fan out our search."

            Kaze nodded, accepting his True self's input. "You have a good point." Without warning he raised his head and snapped orders over the crowd. "Three groups of four, people! Kawari, you and Kaeru take one group, pick your other two members, and move out to our right. Saguru, pick your own three members and move to the left. I'll take the remaining three and keep on going straight around this area. Hopefully we'll cover more ground and triple our chances of finding something." 

            The Negatives snapped into movement almost as soon as Kaze had finished speaking, slipping over ground like a well-oiled machine, practiced and prepared. Kaeru and Kawari glided to the right in an almost ghostly manner, slipping over dead leaves and twigs with barely a sound, while Saguru nearly imitated them as he moved left. The rest of the group hesitated slowly, a little surprised at how quickly the Opposition leader had taken command, and more startled by the instant reactions of the other Negatives; however, they quickly caught on and split themselves up into separate groups, moving to meet up with their Negative guides. Ryou trailed after Kaeru and Kawari almost hesitantly, Tristen following, while Joey, Yugi, and Yami walked after Saguru. Tea, Mokuba, and Kaiba remained with Kaze, standing still as the rest of the group moved away from them. 

            Groups created, they each tramped off in their designated directions--or at least the True Realm beings tramped. The Negatives could glide over the ground like air, and were barely noticeable the way they slunk as they moved. 

            Another half hour was passed in such a way. Each group stayed together, but sharpened their eyes and glanced around intently. Each figure was hoping to find this mysterious dragon, but as they weren't sure if it was really dangerous or not, they kept on their guard constantly. Again, the Negative characters outdistanced their True companions by far in their guard movements; while obviously focused and ready to fight, they looked casual, almost lazy--particularly, though surprisingly, Kawari.

            The Negative Ryou was currently engaged deep in conversation with his True self, Kaeru and Tristen trailing behind the two, as if already forgotten. Slipping over the fallen trunk of a tree as if it didn't even exist, the opposite hikari asked calmly, "How do you stand it?"

            "Stand what?" Ryou asked in reply, confused, as he scrabbled much more clumsily over the same tree trunk.

            "Your yami." Kawari gave his own dark spirit a careless glance before continuing. "Why would you put up with something like that?"

            Ryou sighed. "He'll change someday, I know it. I don't know what makes Bakura act that way, but..."

            Kaeru snorted. "He'll change? I'll tell you this, kid, straight from the mouth of the exact same sprit you're so confident will change his ways. You'll be waiting a while. _I _know full well what makes him act the way he does, and trust me, if he really is _my _opposite, he's not going to get over it for a while."

            The True hikari blinked. "Really? What's the matter?"

            Surprisingly, Kaeru snapped his mouth shut, murmuring a quick, "That's not for me to tell. He'll have to tell you, as much as I'd hate to admit it."

            Kawari sighed, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "There he goes again. He won't tell me either. But it doesn't bug me so much; at least we get along."

            Ryou stared at his opposite carefully, choosing the words to his next question. "You mean he's never hurt you?"

            The black-clad teen shook his head in response. "Hell no," he said easily, giving his darker half another glance. "We might argue sometimes, but that's more like a fight between brothers than anything else. Or _parents,_" he added, shooting the tomb robber an annoyed glance.

            "I'm your Guardian. It's my job. Don't complain." 

            Kawari sighed and rolled his eyes. "Sure." He returned to Ryou quickly however. "But seriously, something else has got to keep you going. You don't take _that _much of a beating just because you think your abuser will change."

            Ryou looked shocked. "You mean, you _wouldn't?_"

            Kawari growled softly. "No, I wouldn't," he hissed, his eyes flashing anger. "If somebody _ever _tried that on me, I'd give it right back to them, no questions asked."

            The white-haired True teen widened his eyes in surprise, and thought frantically for some way to change the subject. Fortunately for him, he never had to come up with a new topic; at that moment, Tristen called out slowly, murmuring, "I think we've found our dragon."

            The three accompanying him turned their heads to the point he indicated, and stifled a small gasp of surprise. There, facing them in a tiny clearing that was overshadowed by trees, was a monstrous shape, like that of a dragon. On closer inspection, it was really a slippery crop of boulders, piled together in a snake-like shape and covered with vines and leaves that imitated scales. A large, jagged rock formed a section that looked almost like a Chinese dragon's head resting on the ground, with a mouth which appeared half open, and small sections of rock jutting downward to form fangs. Creepers spread from the covering tree branches stretched down into cracks in the rocks, forming what almost appeared to be wings, and tree roots crawled along and underneath the ground, looking much like gnarled claws.

            "That," Kawari said slowly, "is amazing." He stared in awe at the monstrous shape, unaware that his mouth was hanging partway open. Behind him, Kaeru was trying to keep an eye on the dragon-like appearance while contacting Kaze on his communicator, giving his coordinates to the others so that they could join his own search group. 

            Ten minutes later, the entire twelvesome had assembled at the small clearing, each staring in wonder up at the ancient-looking "rock dragon." All were amazed at the structure and it's resemblance to the reptilian creatures they had seen so often in duels, but their awe was cut short as Mokuba asked slowly, "Now what do we do?"

            It seemed that no one could answer the question, or at least at first. After a buzz of conversation made it's way throughout the group, Saguru made his voice louder and spoke his idea.

            "Maybe there's some sort of lever or notch on this 'dragon' that'll reveal the Scroll we need. It obviously has to be hidden _somewhere._" The others nodded their agreement, and the Negative Joey stepped forward slowly, eyes flickering searchingly over the massive bulk of the imitation dragon.

            It took him the better part of five minutes to examine the head, with distracting thoughts such as _'this can't be possible' _and _'Can he really do it? Could we really have found it?' _floating through his head from his opposite. However, after some careful concentration (and an angry returned thought to his True self) he managed to discover that, when one of the fangs was twisted counter-clockwise a rough ninety degrees, it became easier to tug and pull--much like a lever.

            Giving himself only a few seconds to shout his discoveries to the rest of the group, Saguru seized a firm hold on the stone fang and pulled it sharply. There was a grinding noise as the rock scraped against stone, but the next moment the entire jagged "head rock" shuddered and began to move. 

            Sensing movement, Saguru wasted no time, but quickly backed up into the rest of the waiting group in case of danger. There was none present, however, and he sighed in quiet relief, watching the movement of the stone dragon ahead of him.

            The non-living creature's jagged head was slowly lifting above the ground, it's serpentine "neck" of rocks and vines moving with it. It's two front root-legs seemed to push up, levering the entire, heavy "creature" into a half-standing position with a shaky groan. The head, soon nearly ten feet above the ground, slowly tilted so that it was pointing down, it's open stone jaws appearing to ready themselves for a burst of flame set upon an imaginary attacker. 

            The stone dragon, once it was still, was suddenly of no importance any more. What caught each member of the group's attention was the deep pit that rested where the dragon's neck and head had once lain. It went far down, nearly the length of two men standing on each other's shoulders, yet it's depth presented no problem; a set of earthen steps lead to the center of the floor in the center of the hole. And in the center, sitting calmly on a golden, shining pedestal, was a scroll.

            At first, it seemed to shine with a brief aura, a pure, empty color that emphasized it's power. However, the glow soon faded away, leaving the little roll of paper to sit calmly, looking for all the world unimportant. But a feeling still resided around it, a feeling of utmost importance, a feeling of power, and it spread outwards in a gentle, yet ominous, flow. The Scroll of Desire, their first goal, an item so powerful all seven Millennium Items would only just be able to compare with it. 

            "I can't believe it," Tea said slowly, her eyes wide in awe. "We've found it! We solved the first riddle correctly...we've found the Scroll of Desire!"

            "Indeed," Yami said calmly, staring at the Scroll with a level gaze. When no one else made to move, he abruptly stepped forward, walking slowly away from his Hikari and towards the pit. Reaching the earthen stairs, he turned to look over his shoulder once more; the others had moved forward after him, though had stopped roughly fifteen paces from the stone dragon and it's treasure, as though feeling that they should not move further. The Negatives, defying all laws of the True Realm as always, were the only ones to move forward to nearly the pit's edge, stopping only five paces away at a respectful distance so as to show Yami they did not mind him taking the Scroll.

            Taking a deep breath, Yami took his first step into the darkened hole, placing his foot gently on the topmost earthen step. When nothing happened, he sighed in relief and began to take his next step...and froze, as a voice began to speak.

            The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once--it was formed from the air, it came from the trees, it was the powerful voice of the stone dragon itself, yet it did not exist. It was huge, and terrifying, filling the minds of each of the members of the group and making them shudder--yet it was also gentle, comforting, nearly understanding. "_IT HAS BEEN SOME TIME SINCE THE SCROLLS OF THE REALMS HAVE BEEN SOUGHT. DO YOU OBEY THE OATH SWORN BY YOUR PEOPLE AT THE DAWN OF MAN?_"

            Yami recoiled slowly, backing out of the pit and off the steps, though he stood only inches from the edge of the darkened depths. Startled, he whipped his head in all directions, searching frantically. He could not see anything, but surprisingly, he did not feel afraid...on the contrary, he felt suddenly calm, as though someone had reached into his mind and slowed it down, comforted it. Slowly, bringing his thoughts together, he spoke. "What oaths do you speak of?"

            "_THE OATHS SWORN ABOUT THE GATHERING OF THE REALM SCROLLS. YOU MUST OBEY THEM OR PERISH._" Despite the dire warnings of the voice's words, it did not sound angry that none of the members of the group knew what it was talking about.

            Yami quickly recovered from the explosion of the voice and began to speak again. "But it has been some time since the Scrolls have been brought to mankind's attention. You must reiterate the rules for us." His tone has a regal sound to it, but at the same time it seemed almost humble, a feat unto itself.

            The voice's own tone did not change, yet if it had a body it probably would have smiled. "_AH, OF COURSE. SO SHORT A LIFE, EVEN YOURS, PHARAOH. THE RULES ARE SIMPLE. EACH REALM SCROLL HAS A GUARDIAN THAT PROTECTS IT AT ALL COSTS. IN ORDER TO EARN THE SCROLL, YOU MUST DEFEAT THE GUARDIAN IN WHATEVER CHALLENGE AWAITS YOU._"

            The Pharaoh caught on quickly, as did the rest of the group. "Ah, I see," he said slowly, speaking for the entire hunting party. "And are _you _the Guardian of this Scroll? The Scroll of Desire?"

            The voice responded slowly, almost carefully. "_INTELLIGENT TO KNOW THE SCROLL YOU SEEK. OTHERS HAVE NOT ALWAYS BEEN SO LUCKY. YES, I AM THE GUARDIAN THAT YOU MUST FACE._"

            Yami's face grew more determined. "Than what challenge awaits us? We will face it, at any cost. We must stop the Shadow Realm before it's magic has a chance to completely overflow and break our Realms entirely."

            Again, the voice seemed pleased, and probably would have grinned had it possessed a mouth. "_A NOBLE CAUSE. IT MAY YET SAVE YOU. YET BEFORE YOU MAY FACE YOUR CHALLENGE, YOU MUST CHOOSE THOSE THAT WILL COMPETE IN IT. YOU MUST HAVE EXACTLY TWO CHALLENGERS. NO MORE, NO LESS._"

            The ancient ruler's face openly exposed his expression of surprise, but he nodded gamely. "Very well, I will follow your set rules. Allow me to choose my partner, then." He turned slowly, facing the remaining eleven members of the group. Quite suddenly, he realized how hard even such a task as choosing one's partner would be--each person had different skills that he most certainly could draw upon, but he had no idea what he was about to face, and therefore wasn't sure who exactly to pick.

            Surprisingly, Joey was able to help him with his decision, narrowing down his possible choices. "Hey, Yami," he said thoughtfully, gazing around at the figures that surrounded him. "It just occurred to me...shouldn't you pick one of the Negative guys?"

            The Pharaoh blinked, confused. "Why would you say that, exactly?"

            Saguru glanced at his opposite, apparently catching onto the boy's ideas by means of their shared thought-link. "I see why...we were drawn into this Realm to _help, _and this must be what we four were chosen to do....help the rest of you in your Scroll hunts. That includes these Challenges, I'd bet. If we've been called to help you, it's best if there's at least one Negative in every challenge--just in case."

            Yami nodded, understanding. "Of course, it makes perfect sense." He frowned thoughtfully, looking over the narrowed group of four that he had to choose from. Finally, he voiced his thoughts, a choice already in mind. "We don't know what we're going to be up against, so it would be best if I had a magic user as my partner, just in case. And the strongest Negative magic user would be you, Kaeru. Therefore, I ask that you aid me in this Challenge set before us."

            Kaeru nodded slowly, obviously having finally decided that Yami was his ally after all--though his eyes still held deep suspicion. It was, therefore, surprising when he said respectfully, "As the Pharaoh wishes."

            Yami blinked in surprise. "What did you say?"

            The Negative spirit frowned. "You heard me."

            The ancient ruler shook his head. "Yes, I did, but it was a bit surprising...I didn't think a tomb robber would speak highly of their Pharaoh."

            Despite himself, Kaeru grinned darkly. "Well now, I wouldn't have followed the path I chose five thousand years ago if not for the you in my Realm. I opposed you and your tyrant rule, your craving to destroy the world; that's how I took the life of a thief--to show my defiance. Perhaps if the Pharaoh in _our _Realm had acted more like you, I wouldn't have taken the life I led." He eyed Yami dryly before speaking again. "However, _my _life is not the matter at hand, nor is yours. Are you prepared?"

            "Give me one minute," the dark ruler responded, still musing, before turning and walking to his lighter half. Yugi looked a bit nervous, almost worried, on seeing him, but Yami smiled the tiniest bit, already picking up on his aibou's thoughts through the mind link. "Don't worry, Yugi. I'll be fine. Kaeru and myself ought to be more than a match for whatever this Challenge is."

            "If you say so," the young Hikari muttered, shrugging.  
            Yami sighed before speaking again. "Aibou, do you mind if I take possession of your mind and body for this Challenge? I'm not sure how much power I'm going to need, but it's easier to draw upon and focus magic without having to concentrate on a temporary physical body as well."

            Yugi nodded hastily. "Sure, of course," he said quietly, watching as Yami smiled gratefully before dissolving and returning to the Ring. Seconds later, he felt the familiar touch of another mind brushing his aside, taking his control away from him, but he didn't mind in the least. 

            //I'm going to have to block you out completely, as well,// Yami muttered through the link. //I'm not sure if that voice would count your presence as a third challenger and think us cheaters.//

            /I don't mind,/ Yugi responded. /Just make sure you're okay, that's all./

            //I promise, Yugi. I'll be fine.// This said, he carefully locked his Light's mind completely out of the way, sealing it off so that it could no longer see or hear what went on around it--only Yami could really comprehend such things, now. 

            The spirit, now alone in his possession, turned the borrowed physical head and glanced at Kaeru. The spirit had remained in his temporary physical form and was standing casually next to Kawari, looking almost bored. 

            "Are you not going to possess your Aibou?" Yami asked slowly, frowning. "It would help you focus your magical abilities."

            "I'm well aware, Pharaoh," the tomb robber replied calmly. "However, I've spent the past year and a half strengthening my abilities outside of my Aibou's mind and body. I've had to, so as to protect him when he--" he stopped short, frowning, and Kawari flinched slightly. After a second's hesitation, Yami understood--Kaeru was speaking of the long span of time when Kawari had been trapped in his own mind, lost, and had nearly died of it.

            "I understand," he said slowly, dropping the matter entirely. 

            Both prepared, they stepped forward a few paces to the lip of the depths below them, standing calmly.

            "_ARE YOU READY FOR THE CHALLENGE?_" The voice came suddenly, yet it did not startle the members of the group as it had before. 

            "We are," Yami replied smoothly.

            The voice's tone dropped slightly in response, taking a chanting, ritual-like tone as it spoke. "_BECAUSE THE FIRST SCROLL IS THAT OF DESIRE, YOUR DESIRE TO SAVE THE WORLD WILL NOW BE TESTED. DO YOU HAVE THE STRENGTH TO SURVIVE AGAINST DANGEROUS ODDS IN ORDER TO DO RIGHT? OR WILL YOU COWER AWAY AND DOOM YOUR SOULS? NOW IS THE TIME TO FIND THE ANSWER. BEGIN._"

            At first, nothing changed, and Kaeru gave Yami a curious glance. The Pharaoh began to return the look, his own confusion showing, but at that moment the air in front of them began to twist and grow solid, forming a creature. 

            Instinctively, both Kaeru and Yami backed a few feet, hissing for the others to head back for the ring of trees surrounding them. They did so, though somewhat reluctantly, but they had no other choice. The spirits, meanwhile, had turned back to the twisting air in front of themselves, and were gaping in astonishment.

            The air had solidified completely, forming an impossibly large monster. It stood nearly ten feet tall, and was covered in thick, strong-looking muscles. It's color was a deep violet-black, and it wore manacle-like wrist and ankle bands. It's head was terrifying, almost insect-like, with a square jaw and two beady, vibrant green eyes. Two antennae-like horns sprouted from the top of it's head, and mandible-like claws seemed to form out of it's neck. In it's claw-tipped hands it grasped a scimitar, with a blood-red guard and a sickly yellow curved blade. It growled in defiance and raised it's scimitar, eyes sweeping the ground for it's victims.

            "That...that's a Swordstalker!" Yami hissed in surprise, taking an involuntary step backwards.

            Kaeru's cool look faltered considerably, but he still managed to act as though he had not a care in the world. "So it is. What do you think the Challenge is, then?"

            The Pharaoh frowned. "I would think that we'd have to defeat it, but..." he shook his head. "It doesn't seem possible. Unless, of course, we summon our own monsters..."

            The tomb robber voiced his disagreement. "I don't think we can. This is supposed to be a challenge for _us, _not the monsters. And in any case, they would probably count as other people helping in the Challenge, and that's against these particular rules."

            Yami groaned. "This can't be good, then."

            The spirit thief growled softly. "Maybe not, but I'm not about to loose!" 

            Before Yami could react, the Negative spirit had dashed away, curling slightly to the side as if he meant to move around to the monster's back. The Swordstalker growled in reply and took several steps forward, cutting off the tomb robber's path and menacing him with it's sword.

            Not about to let his partner be sliced to bits, the Pharaoh hastily dashed in the opposite direction Kaeru had taken, making a beeline for the Swordstalker's back in the direction of the pit that held the Scroll of Desire. To his surprise, the sword-bearing monster hissed angrily and whirled, leaving Kaeru as it turned to cut off Yami's movements. 

            It was then that the ancient thief understood. "I think..." he muttered slowly, staring in the direction of the Swordstalker and it's new prey. Suddenly reaching a conclusion, he yelled wildly, "Pharaoh! Retreat! Go back to your original position!"

            Yami managed to hear the tomb robber's yell and followed the hastily delivered directions, hoping desperately that he would not receive a sword through his back as he ran. He was startled to find himself unscathed, and reached his original starting point within moments, still wondering.

            Kaeru ran up to meet him, watching the Swordstalker with a wary eye. He spoke urgently, carefully. "I don't think we're supposed to _defeat _it."

            The Pharaoh frowned. "What? What do you mean?"

            The Negative pointed in the direction of the monster, still speaking. "Look, it keeps trying to stop us when it thinks we're running towards the Scroll. But as soon as you ran away from it and became less of a threat, it stopped attacking."

            "And?"

            "So it's purpose is to protect the Scroll, nothing more. Which means, I think, that we're simply supposed to get _past _the monster and get the Scroll...we don't have to destroy it."

            Yami thought carefully before slowly nodding. "It makes sense," he agreed, giving the Swordstalker another look. "Now the only question is, _how _do we get by it?"

            "That," Kaeru replied grimly, "would be the Challenge. Here's my idea--we heard it out."

            "What?" 

            "One of us plays the bait. They move forward, draw the monster after them, and run. The second of us, whoever it may be, tries to run through to the Scroll." Again, Kaeru eyed the monster carefully, though he kept an equal watch out for Yami's response.

            It came, though slowly. "It's an idea, and I would guess it should work," the spirit muttered. "Who will the bait be?"

            "I would volunteer," the tomb robber said quietly, "but the second's job requires speed to the utmost, and I would guess that I'm a faster runner than you are."

            Yami sighed, but nodded. "Very well. I'll draw it off. Move quickly, however; I've no intention of letting my aibou's body be skewered on a sword."

            "Agreed."

            Their plan readied, the Pharaoh hastily moved off, moving slowly into the Swordstalker's line of vision. He deliberately headed in the direction of the Scroll's pedestal, moving at a steady gate and trying to look as cool as possible. 

            The monster twitched suddenly and turned it's humanoid-insect head in the spirit's direction. It growled threateningly and lifted it's scimitar warningly, but did not move. Frowning, Yami decided to add to the threat he posed. Within seconds his Millennium Puzzle had flared to life, it's light shining brightly and piercing the gloom the trees cast. 

            The Swordstalker jerked and roared angrily, taking a step forward. It could sense the magic of the Shadow Realm encased in the Puzzle, and instantly knew that the spirit in front of him was planning to forcibly push it's way through with magic. Without warning, the creature dashed forward, raising it's glittering sword angrily in hopes of ending the threat before it could ever come into being.

            Yami let out a gasp of surprise and whirled, running as fast as his aibou's legs would carry him within seconds. He weaved over the ground, pushing for every inch of speed that he could possibly gain as he sped over the clearing.

            Kaeru, meanwhile, had watched the Swordstalker wrench away from it's guard, sprinting after Yami and swinging it's sword angrily. It was all the opening he needed; within seconds he was running speedily forward, heading full tilt towards the Scroll of Desire's pit.

            Yami, during this time, allowed himself a quick glance over his shoulder as he ran. He could see that the tomb robber was dashing towards the stone dragon's pit, but before he could observe further, the yellow-bladed scimitar sliced into his view, the creature holding it growling madly. Gasping, the Pharaoh turned his head back over his shoulder to watch where he was going, putting on an extra burst of speed. Nevertheless, the creature chasing him was much faster, and he had little doubt that it would have caught up to him within moments. He squeezed another desperate burst of speed out in a hopeless attempt and pushed himself a few feet further, but he could hear the Swordstalker behind him and knew he was as good as caught.

            Kaeru had made it almost half-way to the Scroll pit when he noticed the Pharaoh's plight. He gave a torn glance at the Scroll of Desire and the True Yami spirit, then growled softly and changed his direction. Within moments he was covering ground at a rapid pace, dashing headlong towards the Swordstalker and the Pharaoh. He only had a few seconds left before the monster would be in striking distance of the spirit ruler, and pushed himself on anxiously, hoping desperately that he would have enough time. The imitation of the Millennium Ring hanging around his neck began to glow brightly, adopting a slightly blue aura as it bounced off his chest, and it's owner growled again softly, building up the magical energies within it.

            The Swordstalker had begun to lift it's deadly curved scimitar high in the air in preparation for swinging it downward to cleave Yami in two. The Pharaoh gasped and tried to push himself on further, but knew he could not outdistance the monster behind him at the rate he was going. He closed his eyes in readiness for the pain that was sure to come, when he heard a enraged screech behind him.

            Kaeru had charged up his magical energies and had unleashed them in a brilliant, sky blue beam. The condensed magic crashed into the side of the scimitar in a rush, wavering the blade and putting it off course--it thudded down into a tree trunk instead of into it's original target, Yami. Hissing in defiance, the tomb robber launched his second attack, slamming into the giant monster with his shoulder in a vicious tackle. The creature, though not knocked completely down, wavered momentarily, loosing it's footing. The thief took the opportunity to leap back, his stance prepared, his movements like liquid steel, making himself ready for the worst. Unsurprisingly, a dark, unpleasant grin had taken his face, and he glared at the Swordstalker with fiery death in his eyes.

            Yami looked momentarily startled, but did not hesitate to leap backwards opposite Kaeru, taking a prepared stance himself. He did, however, mouth the word "thanks" quickly, not wanting to make the tomb robber think him ungrateful. The Negative spirit nodded sharply in reply before returning his gaze to the Swordstalker. 

            The creature had wrenched it's sword free of the tree trunk, and was now re-gaining it's balance. Within seconds it had completed it's task, and moments later had whirled, it's neon green eyes searching angrily, flickering over the ground surrounding it. On seeing Kaeru, it roared, enraged, and swept it's free hand, unoccupied with the hilt of the scimitar, at the spirit.

            The blow connected with the side of Kaeru's head with a dull snap, and the spirit, his _head_ the size of the attacking _hand_, recoiled with a yell of pain. He stumbled backwards blindly, loosing his footing on a root and coming to a half sitting position within seconds; only his hand kept him up, as it shot out quickly to grab a low-hanging tree branch for him to hold his balance with. Blinking to clear his vision, which had exploded with stars upon impact with the attacking creature's fist, he hastily pulled himself completely upright, wavering slightly as he stood.

            On the side where the remaining nine figures stood, their own problems were beginning to unwind. They were forced to watch the fight without complaint, and each being was growing increasingly worried as they watched their friends being worn down. A unified gasp had come out of the group when Kaeru had received the first successful attack, and a relieved sigh soon followed it as each person released the breath they hadn't known they'd been holding when the spirit pulled himself to his feet. 

            Joey growled furiously, moving forward a pace with his hands raised. "That's it, I'm gonna kick some monster a--" He jerked suddenly as a hand reached out and grabbed the back of his jacket forcefully.

            As Joey turned to see who his capturer was, he heard the person speak quickly. "You can't go out there, Wheeler."

            "Why the heck not?!" the blonde teen spat, shaking off the hand of Kaiba, the one who had restrained him. He glared angrily towards the other teen, hissing, "If this is about you trying to humiliate me in some way, I don't have time for it, Kaiba. You can't anyway, and my friend's out there fighting a _monster!_"

            "I'm not trying to insult you, Joey," the CEO growled back, his tone making it evident that he was putting quite a bit of effort to hold to that sentence--though the blonde did notice that the brunette teen had switched to his first name, perhaps thinking it was more respectful and not as insulting. "I'm telling you plain and simple that you can't go out there. I know you want to help your friends, but if you move out into that clearing, you'll instantly be recognized as a third person. We don't know what will happen if the rules of this type of game are broken, and I have the feeling we shouldn't find out, either."

            Joey sighed, rubbing his temples irritably. "You're right," he muttered, anger plain in his voice. "I hate it, but you're right." He sighed again and stood perfectly still in his spot, as though he meant to bolt himself to the ground so as to not break the rules.

            Throughout the rest of the group, similar discussions were being held. Exchanging glances, Kawari, Kaze, and Saguru moved forward a few steps, acting as a block so that none of the other teens could move forward. Despite their cool manner, however, each one paced anxiously, not looking nearly as laid back as they had before--most noticeably Kawari, who was watching his yami with concern obvious on his face. 

            Back in the fight, things were not going as well as they hoped. The Swordstalker was pacing heavily towards Kaeru, it's scimitar raised threateningly. The tomb robber was no longer stunned from the blow he had received, and held his ground, though he looked slightly nervous. He wasn't one to back away from a challenge or a fight--or both at once--but at the same time, he'd never faced a creature nearly twice his size with a sword, either. 

            Without thinking he backed up a pace, looking around frantically for some open move. It was then that he noticed Yami; the spirit was waving his arms hurriedly from his position behind the monster, as if trying to get his attention. Kaeru focused his steely gaze on the other spirit, and the Pharaoh held up two fingers, mouthing quickly, "Give me two minutes." The tomb robber could already see the glow of the Millennium Puzzle around the ancient ruler's neck, yet he knew it's power at the moment was feeble compared to what it was capable of. 

            Giving a rapid nod, the Negative thief returned his gaze to the Swordstalker. He'd have to distract it somehow, keep it from knowing of Yami's growing magic. He gave a grim smile and allowed his own Ring to glow, it's light looking like blue and golden tongues of flame that licked at the sides of the artifact, at the same time backing up a few more paces. 

            The Swordstalker roared angrily as it focused on the Millennium Ring. With an enraged scream, it dashed forward, drawing it's scimitar high over it's head and slicing downward forcefully. Kaeru gave a small hiss of surprise and only _just _managed to dodge, nearly throwing himself to the side to avoid the deadly sharpness of the blade. 

            _At least it's paying attention to me, not Yami,_ he thought dryly to himself, as the creature drew in it's sword and prepared for another strike. This time, it sliced outwards in a horizontal direction, cutting through the air at neck-level in hopes of severing the spirit's head from his body. Not showing any emotion, the spirit ducked, coiling his muscles together in a crouching position as the blade swept overhead harmlessly. 

            The creature gave another angry roar and attacked again, determined to injure it's elusive prey. It, too, crouched down on one knee, slicing it's blade out in another attack and _just _skimming over the ground quickly, as if trying to cut it's opponent's feet out from underneath him. Kaeru reacted instantly; still crouching, he suddenly leaped upward, springing himself into the air and jumping over the scimitar in what looked almost like a deadly game of jump rope. As the blade swept under him once more in a returning slice, the tomb robber came down to meet ground again--landing on the flat of the scimitar blade and pinning it to the ground.

            The monster looked more than a little confused, growling angrily as it felt it's major weapon suddenly be forced to the ground, his opponent crouching on it's wide blade with a smirk on his face. Kaeru, however, looked as if he was having fun, his grin spreading even wider and sending a glittering appearance into his eyes. He could not help but speak, a little jaunt escaping his lips. "What's the matter? Did the Tomb Robber catch your favorite weapon? Look carefully, I might steal it out from under your nose."

            The creature seemed to grow more enraged at this comment, and with a roar wrenched it's scimitar out from underneath the spirit, forcing it upward. The result was something like a spatula flipping a pancake; the flat of the blade forced Kaeru upwards, twisting him a good five feet into the air before separating with him and allowing him to hit the ground with a dull thud some ten feet away. 

            Kaeru groaned in pain as he found himself flat on his back, a throbbing headache beginning to nestle in the back of his head. That was the least of his problems, however; as he raised himself into a sitting position, still wavering as though dazed, he could see the Swordstalker tramping in his direction, it's scimitar raised triumphantly. Startled, the spirit began to crab-walk backwards, not having time to stand. 

            The monster, meanwhile, had allowed a terrifying grin to spread over it's face. Without warning, it lunged forward, it's sword sweeping out to the side in preparation for attack--and abruptly screamed in agony and stumbled to the side, falling to the ground, a long, thin burn suddenly visible on it's side. 

            Shocked, Kaeru glanced over the surrounding area, noticing Yami suddenly. The ancient ruler was standing defiantly, Millennium Puzzle glowing with a golden-green light, and he was staring at the Swordstalker in anger.

            Breathing hard, the tomb robber pushed himself to his feet, gathering unsteady footing for himself hastily. Yami approached him quickly, face filled with concern. "Are you all right?"

            "Fine," the Negative spirit hissed back, his voice somewhat snappish as a result of the latest occurrences. "But listen," he continued, his voice almost business like, "we're not going to get anywhere this way. We _need that Scroll, _and we're not going to get it by standing here. I think--" he stopped suddenly, eyes wide. "Pharaoh, look out!"

            Yami had one second for his face to express confused surprise before he was hit. A gigantic fist, connected to an equally large and muscular arm, rocketed outward and slammed into his torso. The ancient ruler was shot to the side, hitting the ground and rolling a few feet before laying still. At the same time as he was hit, something golden flashed through the air and clinked to the ground at the remainder of the groups' feet--the Millennium Puzzle. 

            Kaeru had no time to express his own shock. He had barely enough warning to throw himself to the side before the scimitar blade sliced down where he had stood seconds before. He hastily dashed a good ten feet from the attacking monster, heading away from the still figure laying in the clearing so as not to draw danger to a person that could not protect himself. When he had come to a halt, he whirled and looked around hastily. 

            The Swordstalker had not chased him, fortunately, but rather it was standing still, recovering itself after Yami's attack and pressing one clawed hand to it's burned side. The thief spirit ignored the monster for the time being and turned to observe the figure laying in the clearing--and gasped. 

            The figure was no longer Yami. Yugi had taken his place now that the Puzzle had been removed from him, and the boy looked startled. He was staring in shock at the Swordstalker, eyes even wider than they usually were and looking very nervous. The monster, noticing a weakened prey, began to pace towards the young Hikari, blade bared dangerously. It was then that Kaeru realized--Yugi could not fight, or he would risk breaking the rules and bringing something terrible on the entire group. He could not protect himself at all, for the Puzzle, his only Guardian, had been separated from him.

            Setting his jaw in a determined fashion, the Negative tomb robber darted for the Millennium Puzzle, hoping to return it quickly to Yugi so that Yami could take over once more. However, someone else beat him to it--a very unfortunate someone.

            Within the group, Ryou had not even known what had hit him. He had watched the Millennium Puzzle drop to the ground in dismay, but suddenly found his mind being shoved forcefully aside as his yami wrenched control from him. Bakura, now in control, had dived forward, snatching the Puzzle from the ground quickly before turning and running full tilt down one of the hiker's paths in the mountain.

            Unfortunately, he did not get very far. He had only made it a few yards down the trail when he suddenly felt his legs get kicked painfully from beneath him; he fell, unbalanced, and within seconds his attacker was crouching on his back, holding him down with all his weight. The figure wasted no time, but snatched the Puzzle from the True tomb robber's hands, removing himself from the dark spirit's back as he did so.

            Bakura, angered, hastily pulled himself into a kneeling position and whirled, coming to face his attacker. "You!" he spat, enraged, as he came face to face with his Negative self.

            Kaeru held the Millennium Puzzle up for his True self to see, muttering lowly, "This already has an owner, you know, and I think he'd appreciate it if you didn't take it from him." He tutted once before whirling and dashing back towards the clearing, preparing himself for the fight once more.

            Bakura growled in pure hate, beginning to raise himself up to stand with thoughts of slinking away running through his head. However, before he could so much as act on his plan, a strong arm locked around his neck, holding him firmly in place. 

            "What?!" The True tomb robber hissed in surprise, twisting his head to try and catch sight of his newest captor. He was startled to find himself staring at Kawari, the Negative Hikari's innocent brown eyes currently hardened and dangerous looking.

            "You know, _Bakura,_" he said mockingly, wrapping his second, gloved hand around the thief's arms and rendering them useless for attacking, "you're seriously starting to piss me off. Give up your possession on my True self _now._"

            "Why should I?" the spirit growled back, in no mood to deal with this over-confident version of Ryou at the moment. If he'd had just _one _arm free, he could have taught the hikari a strong lesson, but the boy wasn't stupid; he'd locked the spirit's arms, and with Bakura still half-kneeling on the ground, the thief couldn't kick his way free, either. 

            "I've got a good reason," the white-haired Negative said, sounding sarcastic. "You can't breathe if you don't?" Though it might have been imagined, the grip around the tomb robber's throat seemed to increase, and the spirit coughed slightly.

            Bakura muttered to himself, running his options over in his head hurriedly. He couldn't fight, as the hikari had gotten him into a firm, guarded grip, and that greatly limited many of his moves. He finally sighed, annoyed; he wasn't stupid, and he knew he couldn't put up a fight, but he felt humiliated that such a weak hikari had managed to stop him.

            "Fine," he hissed, his voice thick with malice. "I'll leave." What he didn't say, however, was that he would still be waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. And this "Kawari," as he called himself, had quite suddenly climbed to the top of his list of victims.

            Kawari waited patiently as he watched the Millennium Ring on the spirit's chest glow brightly; the body he held went limp for a few seconds before starting slowly, twisting it's head as though confused. "What's going on...?"

            "Your yami took over," the Negative Ryou replied simply, releasing his True self quickly. "He tried to take the Millennium Puzzle. But that's all taken care of, now."

            "Oh...thank you," Ryou murmured slowly, looking a little worried. Bakura had taken over? He knew for certain that could mean almost nothing good....

            The two quickly turned and rejoined the rest of the group. Each person had their eyes solely focused on the battle in front of them, and none had noticed the problems with Bakura on their side. Ryou and Kawari did not bring it up, but instead returned themselves to watching the battle.

            Kaeru, upon taking possession of the Millennium Puzzle from his True self, had dashed back to the battle quickly. The Swordstalker was only a few paces from Yugi now, and was beginning to raise it's scimitar in the final attack. Without a shred of hesitation, the tomb robber leapt forward with a roar, tossing the Puzzle to Yugi quickly while diving at the monster's outstretched arm. Angrily he latched himself onto the gigantic, muscular arm, digging his tiny, sharp fingernails into the skin and scrabbling furiously, his only weapon without any of his customary knives and such. Though not doing much damage, he succeeded in drawing it's attention off of the defenseless Yugi, as the creature now felt that it had to punish it's newest attacker. 

            It threw Kaeru off it's arm quickly, but the spirit made a graceful twist in mid-air and managed to land on his feet in a crouch, sliding several feet from the momentum and sending a cloud of dust and dirt into the air. Furious, the Swordstalker lashed out, swiping in several forms at the tomb robber. The Negative Bakura dodged skillfully, often keeping the blade from cutting him by only a hair--most times he could even feel the wind the blade drew after it as it slashed outwards. 

            Yugi, meanwhile, had hastily slipped the Puzzle over his head, clutching it tightly to his chest, as though protecting it. His mind was shoved rather forcefully aside as Yami tore control from him, though he understood the spirit's urgency and forgave him. Yami, now once again in control, could now see his partner moving swiftly backward, drawing the Swordstalker after him. 

            Kaeru, too, had seen that Yami had returned. Dodging a new slash of the scimitar, he roared loudly, "Pharaoh! The Scroll! Get the Scroll!"

            The ancient ruler understood instantly. Pushing himself to his feet, he tore up the ground as he dashed headlong towards the Scroll pit, his heart beating frantically in fear and from constant movement.

            Kaeru, during the entire time, was doing a fine job of keeping the Swordstalker's attention. He made an interesting target; always moving, always _just _out of reach, yet moving in and out of range constantly. He was driving the sword monster crazy from his elusive, expert movements, weaving in and out of trees quickly and efficiently, always just barely escaping the swipe of a blade.

            Suddenly, however, things seemed to turn on him. He had reached an area where the trees grew closer together, making an effective blockade in one direction, with tangled vines and fallen branches adding to it. Gasping in exhaustion and surprise, the spirit turned to run--and found himself facing the gigantic sword-bearing monster. 

            Grinning triumphantly, the creature slashed out with it's blade. Kaeru threw himself to the side almost instantly, dodging the scimitar--but not without consequence. As the sword cut upwards, it slashed through several branches and vines, dropping them down in a tangled mess in between the spirit and the monster and successfully enclosing him in a "cage" of creepers and trees. 

            The Swordstalker looked as though it was preparing to finish the tomb robber off, but at that moment it twitched and glanced back the way it came. It must have sensed that Yami was getting closer to it's precious Scroll, for it gave Kaeru one last glance and, deciding the thief was trapped, dashed off in the direction of the stone dragon's pit. 

            "No!" the Negative spirit hissed angrily, hammering his tree-like prison with his shoulder in powerful tackles in attempts to break himself out. It was working, but slowly, cracking the wood at a decent pace--though not fast enough.

            Yami, meanwhile, had almost reached the Scroll's pit, and was only a few yards from it's ledge. He grinned triumphantly, not noticing the monster nearby until it was too late. 

            With an almighty roar, the Swordstalker slashed with it's scimitar forcefully. Yami was hit with the flat of the blade, not being cut, but instead stunned. He was flung a good ten feet, skittering across the ground and rolling down the steps into the pit that held the Scroll. He came to rest, quite suddenly, with his back to the Scroll's pedestal, his head spinning as though a tornado had become trapped in it.

            Kaeru had seen that entire occurrence and yelled in anger. He hammered quicker on the wooden prison; without warning, the branches and vines snapped, and he forced his way through them. He dashed quickly towards the pit, but his legs were far shorter than those of the Swordstalker's, and he felt the sickening feeling that he was going to be too late.

            He did, however, see Yami within the pit, leaning heavily against the Scroll's pillar. He looked dazed, as if he could not tell one shape from another, and his head rolled slightly. He could understand the Pharaoh's pain, but at the same time knew that they needed desperately to finish this task, to achieve their goal. All the ancient ruler had to do was reach up and grab the Scroll, though in his dazed state he didn't seem capable. He would have to be forced, somehow. 

            So, coming to these conclusions, Kaeru responded in the best way he knew how. "Pharaoh! You fool, you called yourself the leader of _Egypt? _Pick up the Scroll! Pick up the Ra-damned Scroll, Pharaoh!"

            Deep in his semi-consciousness, Yami could vaguely register that somebody was speaking. He forced himself with some effort to concentrate harder, and suddenly could make out the words. He frowned slightly; somebody was _swearing _at him? Him, the Pharaoh, who they seemed to acknowledge as a once-ruler? He growled softly, his senses becoming clearer, more attuned.   
            "Grab the Gods-damned Scroll, you idiotic Pharaoh, or we're _all _dead!"

            All at once, Yami's mind seemed to snap to attention, and he forced his eyes open, gazing around the area. The first thing he noticed was that the Swordstalker was only two feet from the lip of the pit he himself was in. The second thing that he noticed was that he was leaning against the pedestal that _held _the Scroll, and it was only a foot or so above his head. 

            "Grab the Scroll," he murmured slowly. He tried to reach his arms; they felt so heavy, he was almost sure he couldn't do it. The Swordstalker took another step, and he changed his mind, forcing his right arm upward. The monster was another step closer, on the steps now, but Yami's hand was higher too. It was drawing back it's sword to attack, to slice cleanly downward and end it all...._higher, another inch up, you can do it..._the sword was beginning to come down...

            With sudden sureness, Yami's hand snapped around a small, curled-up Scroll. He grasped it tightly, as if it was an anchor to life, a shield against death. The Swordstalker's curved blade was still coming down--it had just begun to press slowly into his forehead, causing a small shiver of pain. Then, suddenly, it was gone, disappearing, as though it had never existed. 

            The voice that had greeted them at the beginning of the Challenge spoke again--just one sentence, though it sounded quite humble for it's stature. "_I AM DEFEATED._"

            Yami frowned slowly, forcing his dazed mind to think, though it seemed difficult. He slowly looked upward, where he noticed Kaeru was standing on the pit's steps. Very slowly, he felt the small cut on his forehead caused by the scimitar, and felt the tiny trickle of blood that slipped down the side of his nose. It didn't hurt; mostly it was the fear that had caused such a minor injury to seem so huge.

            The rest of the group had run forward to meet the two battlers, yelling words of praise and congratulations. Kawari had come to stand firmly next to his yami, with Ryou on the other side, but all three of them, along with the rest of the group, were staring down in concern towards Yami, still sitting against the Scroll pedestal. 

            Suddenly, the ancient Pharaoh noticed that Yugi was trying to contact him in the mind link. /Yami? Are you okay?/

            //I'm fine, Yugi,// the spirit replied, coming to his senses. //I was just a little confused, that's all.//

            /Ah. Okay./ The mental voice of his Hikari sounded a little disbelieving, and Yami sighed, giving his charge some of his control back so that he could now see and hear everything that the spirit did.

            Returning to the physical world, Yami blinked and slowly stared up at his companions. He felt the blood trickle farther down his face, and wiped it carefully on his sleeve, pressing it to the cut so that the pressure would hopefully stop the bleeding. After what seemed like an age, he muttered very slowly, "I would very much hope that doesn't happen in the future."

            At first, there was silence in response to the Yami's quote. However, after a few seconds, a nervous titter broke out among the members of the group, spreading slowly into full-fledged laughter--the laughter one uses after they have just survived something impossible.

            When quiet had returned once more, Yami stood up, walking gratefully out of the pit and coming to stand with the rest of the group. He separated quickly with his Hikari, forming his own temporary physical body so as to enable everyone to see the Scroll of Desire. 

            "I can't believe we've got it," Tea murmured slowly, her eyes lighting up in delight as she gazed at the Scroll. "The Scroll of Desire! We won it!"

            Yami nodded slowly, still feeling exhausted. He carefully unrolled the Scroll, opening it up wide and glancing over it's thin, spidery handwriting quickly. After several seconds he spoke. "This Scroll has more than one spell on it."

            "What?" The question was asked by nearly everyone at once.

            "There are other spells here besides the one we want," he said, his voice taking a calm air. "Like this one--it's a Healing spell, able to completely restore a person's physical wounds to their original healthy state in all but the most fatal of cases. It doesn't revive death, basically, but it'll heal almost everything else." 

            "That could come in useful," Tristen remarked calmly. 

            "Indeed," Yami said, agreeing. "There are at least six others here, of course, various spells--most concern healing in some way. Healing love, healing the mind, healing the soul...." He didn't notice Kaze fidget slightly at the mention of spells as his eyes scanned the Scroll carefully before coming to rest in one spot. "Ah, here we go. A spell that should hopefully aid us in our quest to fix the Shadow Realms' overflowing powers." He read over it once quickly before slowly beginning to chant it out loud in ancient Egyptian. Several seconds passed, in which all was silent, and the unfamiliar language seemed to captivate the minds of the beings in the group. Finally, with a flourish, Yami finished reading in his regal tones, and waited.

            Nothing happened.

            Frowning, Yami tried again, chanting the spell in a practiced manner. Still, nothing happened, and his frown deepened, his confusion evident. "I wonder what's wrong?"

            Kaze groaned suddenly. "I think I know." The others focused on him, and he continued. "We're supposed to look for all Seven Realm Scrolls, correct? Then I think that the entire spell is split up evenly among the seven Scrolls. There's a _piece _of the spell in each Scroll; you just read a piece, therefore, and nothing happened."

            A groan filled the air as each person showed their annoyance at the well-hidden Scrolls and spells. Yami finally sighed and murmured, "Yes, I suppose you're right, it does make sense," causing another groan to follow the first.

            Ryou blinked suddenly. "Wait a minute. If we've found this first Scroll, then we have no idea where to find the next one--we have no new clues. What do we do now?"

            The others nodded their agreement, and Yami stretched out the Scroll again, reading over it to see if it held some sort of new verse. Yugi, however, focused on the ground. He noticed a slip of parchment at Yami's feet, and guessed that it had slipped out of the Scroll when the Pharaoh had opened it. 

            Carefully, Yugi bent down and scooped up the small scrap of parchment, reading over it quickly. He frowned, read it again, and sighed before holding it up. "Guys..."

            Each of the eleven other group members turned to face him, focusing curiously. 

            Yugi sighed again, frowning slightly as he held out the parchment for the others to look at. "I think I've found the next clue."

                        *                      *                      *                      *                      *

HCG: There's THAT chapter done, then....*dashes around*     

Kaze: *running frantically* I'm surprised you even FINISHED The damned thing after what you just did!

Kaeru: *running up alongside* Yeah, what in Amun-Ra's name possessed you to "un-heal" NR Yami?!

HCG: *sniff* I wanted him to be more interesting...he was so boring the other way....

Kawari: -_-;; Yay for you, we all get to die now.

HCG: O_O;;

NR Yami: *in the background, exploding things randomly and watching them burn for fun* HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!

Kaeru: o_O;; What happened to your editing pen you changed him with?!

HCG: ¬_¬;; He stole it

NR Yami: *holds up a snapped-in-half pen* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

HCG: ooooh, hell.....

Kaiba: x_X just do the notes!

HCG: Right. Okay. 

1) The mountain they headed to, Mount Volumen? Well, "Volumen" is Latin for "Scroll." Just a little tidbit of information there.....

2)x_X gack, long. Although, two pages consist of author's notes and answering reviews...hoh, boy, and it's 1:18 at night right now...-_-;; good thing school doesn't start until 10:40 in the morning tomorrow...

3) Um, well, erm...go read my other fic! It's a one shot from Kawari's point of view, when he was Mind Lost (you know, Shadow Turned Light, Chapter 6?). It's my first angst fic, and also my first time to write from the point of a person fighting insanity (if you don't count NR Yami..*sharp glance at him*)

HCG: x_X Anyway people...I've nothing left to say, as I'm currently busy getting attacked by my far-too-rabid character...so...review! Please? And go read my other fic, "Shadowed Soul" when you're done. Have fun ^_~


	7. Light's Blade

HCG: *stares at computer*

Kaze: o_O What is it?

HCG: I...I...I've beaten "Shadow Turned Light" in review amounts and word counts!

Kawari:.....Hey, you just made rhyme.

Kaeru: ¬_¬;; Everybody just take note of how observant my hikari is.

Kawari: Watch it _;;

Kaiba: *sighs* So how exactly have you beaten "Shadow Turned Light?"

HCG: I have almost _70 _reviews for this story....and I'm not even HALFWAY through the fic! And as for length, well, I know at this point I'm a little past 100 pages on the computer...translating that to your average paperback, that's more than 200 pages....and I'll say again, I'm NOT EVEN HALFWAY through this story!

Kaiba:......woah.

HCG: ^_^ I haven't scared any of you readers off now, have I?

Kawari: *blinks* *looks around* Nope....don't think so. They're hooked, now.

HCG: Good! *looks at Kawari* Oh, by the way, what'd you guys do with NR Yami?

Kaeru: Well.....after some resistance from him--

Kawari: -_-;; In which I managed to get almost Mind Crushed again! 

Kaeru: *continues* We managed to chain him up in the corner until Yugi could heal him again. 

Kawari: NO THANKS TO YOU, HCG!

Kaeru: Yeah, but we did have help from **Trinity Star, **who beat the crud out of NR Yami with a frying pan in her review o_O;;

HCG:.....I see......

Kaze: Well, introduce your guest, HCG.

HCG: Oh, right! We've brought Bakura in today, just for the hell of it.

Bakura: *glares angrily at Kaeru & Kawari* For the HELL OF IT?! This chapter _sucks! _I _demand _you re-write it!

HCG: No. 

Bakura: YES!

HCG: No. Shut up. I'm starting to answer reviews now.

Bakura: *wanders into a corner and mutters angrily*

****

Silver Angel ~ ^_^ You liked my action scene? Sweet! I was hoping I wrote that whole "Swordstalker attack" correctly, and apparently I did. Wheee! I'm glad you're getting used to the names, too--I told everyone they'd sink in after a chapter or two. As for your "will the clues follow the same format?" question--if you mean the same poetic rhyme scheme/style, well, yeah. The Challenges may not necessarily be the same, though. And I did list each and every scroll's Element in chapter Five, though you may not have known that yet. Anyway. Yeah. 

****

Daricio ~ Ah, I understand why you write a lot now. I don't mind anyway; I enjoy the more involved reviews more than the simple, one-sentence "repeated phrase" ones. (Though any type of review is accepted, XD) Yup, Ryou has a sister, though only mentioned in the manga (and I think she was dead too x_X don't trust me on that though). She's not coming into this story, though perhaps I'll write a side-thing about her later. Okay, changing gears. Sure you can use the "Yami/Yugi/Puzzle separating concept." I don't mind at all; it's just a little idea I came up with and threw in at the last moment. As for Ryou, I understand now--nope, not a chatterbox, but he'll be important later, don't worry. And I understand about your lack of useful vocabulary so late at night--in fact, I'm honored you'd stay up that late to read my story ^_^ You've got spring break? Damn, I don't have it for another week -_-;; I'm glad I write in an easy-to-visualize way as well ^_^ And my homework has not gone away, but there is considerably less, so....yeah. *looks over everything she's just said* o_O Looooots of woooooords....

****

Silver Fang ~ Kaiba: o_O;; MY BANNERS! NYAH!

HCG: o_O;; Oookay...you liked my combat scenes too? Most people that reviewed have seemed too...weird *blinks* You like the longness? ^_^ Goodies! 

****

Trinity Star ~ Why, thank you for beating the snot out of my adorable psycho Negative Pharaoh ^_^ And the Plot Tranquilizer should come in handy too. And WOW, that's a strong frying pan....o_O;;

****

Wingleader Sora Jade ~ Okay, I'm gonna answer both your review for "Shadowed Souls" and your review for last chapter here. Firstly, chapter 6's review. Yup, this would be the Kawari-centered chapter, and I think you're going to enjoy it. A lot. ^_^ As for which Scroll comes next, you'll see in a minute. And...Kawari fan-art? ^___^ Yay! Unfortunately, I have the same scanner problem...but I still enjoy the idea of having other people drawing Kawari fan art, even if I can't SEE it. (x_X and remember that "Ryou-in-a-ponytail" piccie I said I was gonna draw for you waaaaaaaay back when? I STILL don't have a scanner for me to get it online with -_-;;) Now for your other review--you brought up an interesting point, about Amane. Yes, she is still alive. So is Kawari's mother, like you said. His dad, as pointed out in "Shadowed Souls," is most likely dead. Now, remember in some chapter in Shadow Turned Light, when the whereabouts of Mai, Tea, and Serenity are explained? Kaeru/NR Bakura explains that Kawari/NR Ryou sent the girls to Great Britain, where he had acquaintances. Guess who those "acquaintances" were? Bingo! Mother and sister ^_^ And on the side--Kawari and Amane don't get along very well o_O;;

Kawari: *grumbles irritably*

HCG: -_-;; As for your side-story idea, well, I'm actually debating whether to do a "sequel to the sequel" after this, (a trilogy, you might say), but I'm not sure. If I do, though, I was planning to incorporate those ideas in there--so once again, we think alike ^_^;; And yeah, the characters nobody knows about are always fun to like--especially when you give them the spotlight. That's always a plus.

HCG: ANYWAY. That would be the end of the individual reviews. A general note to all--the next clue is nearly at the beginning of this chapter, but that doesn't mean you don't get to guess and try to figure out what it is! When you review (which you will, of course, be doing), tell me if you got right or wrong, and what your idea was if it's the latter. I love to hear each person's ideas! ^_^

Kaeru: Okay, okay, just get to the story.

HCG: Fine, but you must do the Disclaimer.

Kaeru: *sighs* HCG does not own Yu-Gi-Oh or it's characters, plots, etc. Neither does she own the Seven Elements, which are actually Wingleader Sora Jade's (though the Scrolls are HCG's). The personalities of the Negatives, as well as the plot and histories, belong to HCG. Do not take them unless you have ASKED first. Or HCG will unleash the Almighty Keyboard on you. And believe me, that thing is _hard _and it _hurts._

HCG: Woot! Okay, people, on to the chapter!

Notes:

****

Kaeru ~ NR Bakura

****

Kawari ~ NR Ryou

****

Kaze ~ NR Kaiba

****

Saguru ~ NR Joey

__

Italicized words are thoughts or dreams/memories

'word' ~ Thought-link words between a Negative and a True

Do I have anything to say? Hmmm....nope. *watches readers cheer happily at not having to listen to HCG babble on* *sniffs* I'm hurt...*sticks out tongue at readers and stalks off*

Negative Chaos 

Chapter 7: Light's Blade

For a good ten seconds after Yugi's announcement, the entire group was silent, the only sounds filling the air consisting of the birds chirping happily in the air. After those few seconds had passed, however, the air erupted into boiling, intermingling sounds of chaos.

"Well? Read it!" Tristen yelled over the roar of the group, though others asked nearly the same thing in softer tones. The thought-links between Negative and True beings were buzzing rapidly, with strong emotions crashing through the Realms' block to settle firmly in their opposites' heads. 

"Quiet down!" Kaze managed to roar over the crowd, his commanding tone strong and steady. The rest of the group slowly fell into a silent state once more, jaws clamped shut so as to allow Yugi to read.

Taking a deep breath, the young Hikari scanned the clue once more and spoke, though slowly. "It's a riddle, like the last clue. Here it is:

The Second you seek, my clue you hear,

I alone breed death and fear

Weapons chime and slash and scare, 

Terror builds upon the air.

Blood is spilled and falls unchecked

Onto ground, battered and wrecked.

Grass once green and standing tall

All along the fields, now falls.

The woodland watchers--my pain they spy;

In desperation they bend and cry."

Yugi fell silent, but no voice broke the stillness to volunteer an answer. Finally, after several minutes, Mokuba spoke slowly. "I don't have a clue what it means. Anybody else have any ideas?" 

The others, save Joey, nodded slowly. The blonde teen, however, was running over the speech that Kaze had made earlier without understanding what he had spoken. Thinking quickly, he thought over one of the last of the Negative Seto's sentences. _Desire, War, Passion, Hatred, Fate, Death, and Time. We've already gotten Desire, so this Scroll has to be pointing out one of the other six Elements._ Slowly, he ran over the clues given in the poem, comparing each of them to the Element they might be indicating.

After several minutes, he thought he came up with a match. "I think I've figured out the first part, guys," he muttered quickly, breaking the silence with his strong Boston accent. 

Kaiba looked as though he was trying hard to suppress an insult, but he did it, with some difficulty. Instead, he asked slowly, "Really, Wheeler? What is it, then?"

The True blonde thought carefully before speaking. "I think the first half of the poem is pointing out which Scroll we're searching for. And I think it might be War."

Yami's face held a look of confusion, but also one of deep thinking. "How so?"

"Just look at the descriptions," Joey said quickly, waving his hand in the direction of the slip of paper. "The descriptions seem to fit War perfectly. The first line is just a give-away saying we're looking for our second Scroll, but _here,_" he added enthusiastically, tapping the small slip of parchment, "is where it begins to become important. 'I alone breed death and fear.' What else but a War could cause such things?"

"Quite a bit could, Joey," Kaeru said calmly, "But you're right, a war is the most wide-scaled spread of terror and death that I could think of. What about the next lines?"

Saguru answered for his True self, catching on quickly. "Oh, I get it. 'Weapons chime and slash and scare, terror builds upon the air.' It makes sense, when you think about it--slash and scare, those are _definitely _blades, so it's not a high-tech war, but still....and in a war, terror _will _build, the terror that you could die at any moment. Or that you could kill others at any moment." He frowned slightly before adding, "Us Opposition agents ought to know that."

Joey ignored the cold statement with a slight shudder as he continued. "Right. And the next lines fit the Element too--'Blood is spilled and falls unchecked, onto ground, battered and wrecked.' In a war, blood _does _fall without anybody caring to stop it; they're too busy. And the battle ground would be destroyed as well from so much movement on it."

"It does seem sensible," Tea said carefully, though not without a bit of shame at the prospect of war in her voice. "Any ideas about the last four lines?"

"Well..." the blonde teen muttered, drawing out the word as his mind sought an answer. After a few seconds he finished his sentence slowly. "No, I've got no ideas for that."

Kaze sighed, shifting on the hard ground as he walked. The group had taken to one of the many hikers' paths, and were currently traveling down the mountain back to his opposites' two helicopters. "Well, anybody _else _have any ideas? Because I sure don't."

"Er...well..." Ryou muttered slowly, glancing around at the rest of the group. No one had noticed his zoned-out look a second before besides Kaeru, so therefore no one but the Negative spirit knew that he had gone into a deep concentration to use his mind link. 

"What? Have an idea?" Kaiba asked, whirling on the white haired teen quickly.

"Um...well...not _me, _exactly," the True Ring bearer murmured, almost too quiet to hear. He took a deep breath before speaking rapidly. "Bakura knows the answer."

Kaeru focused a level, emotionless gaze on his opposite Light. "Bakura." He spat his own name as if it was a curse, glaring at the Ring on Ryou's chest with distasteful anger. 

Ryou nodded weakly in reply. "Yeah. He's been bonded with me for a while now--seeing and hearing everything I do. He listened to the second Verse, too."

"Really." Kaeru's voice took on a rather cold tone, and his eyes intensified to frozen orbs of fire and ice. "And what, may I ask, are you doing letting _him _bond with _you?_"

The True hikari blinked in surprise and stuttered in his reply at the spirit's inquiry and harsh tone, despite the fact that he knew the thief was kinder. "I...I thought since...since he's part of this world too, I figured....that he should be involved in the search. So he could help if he had to."

_'Yeah, right,' _Kawari's strong thought muttered, crashing abruptly into his head. _'More like so he could destroy it if he wanted to.'_ Ryou shot his opposite a quick look, to which the Negative cringed apologetically.

Kaeru, meanwhile, had replied in a regular tone, removing the harshness from his voice as he heard Ryou's stammering. "You trust him too much. Then again, you can't hear his thoughts either, or know nearly as much about him as I do." He shook his head irritably before continuing. "Still, the answer to the riddle isn't an opportunity to pass up, no matter where the information comes from. So, what's the answer then?"

The white-haired teen frowned in reply. "Well, see, that's the problem. He....won't tell me."

"_What?!_" Eleven other angry voices yelped at the same time. "Why not?"

Ryou shrugged in reply. "He does that....I don't know why."

Kaeru, however, hissed the answer. "He's _trying _to be difficult," he snapped angrily. "Trying to get back at me and my aibou." He snarled slightly as he spoke again. "I'll fix that. Get him out here."

The True Ring bearer blinked, confused. "What?"

"Get him out here. I want to talk to him. Now."

The teen looked a little surprised, but nodded quickly. "Right." He closed his eyes and concentrated. 

At first, nothing happened, and the wind slipping through the trees could be the only sound heard. However, after several more seconds, the Millennium Ring began to glow; the air, soon after, began to solidify, and in less than a minute a new figure stood there. It was Bakura, undoubtedly, from his devil-horned silver hair to his sinister grin and haunting, deadly eyes.

"Why, what on _earth_ would you want with me, _Kaeru?_" He asked tauntingly, his grin widening as he faced his opposite. 

"You damn well know," the Negative thief snapped back, ignoring the mocking way in which his new name was said. "You're playing a dangerous game, you idiot, and you're dancing with cobras. If you don't look out, you're going to get bitten."

"I'll take the chance," Bakura replied lazily, not paying attention to any of the other people around him besides his opposite and the two versions of Ryou. 

"You're really willing to?" Kaeru hissed, his voice low. 

"Indeed."

The opposite tomb robber took a step forward, cracking his knuckles in reflex. "Well then, let me tell you this--we _need _the answer to that last half of the riddle, or that venom will be flowing through your veins so fast you won't know what hit you." The command in his voice was obvious, and there was no hint of begging whatsoever.

The True Ring spirit, however, simply laughed. "Really? But what would possibly want to make me help _you?_"

"Perhaps saving the existence of this Realm would be a good enough reason?"

"Do you think I really care about all of these pathetic mortals?"

Kaeru growled, and changed his direction of attack lightning quick. "Okay then, you want to be tough, let me put it a different way for you. You want the Millennium Items, yes?" Bakura nodded, dark grin spreading on his face, and his opposite continued. "And you want to rule the world once you have them, am I correct?" Another nod. "Good, I thought as much. It was easy enough to figure out--if I want to _protect _the world, then you very well would want to control it. Fine then." He leaned close to his True self, bringing his face so close that the spirits' noses nearly touched, and hissed angrily, "If you do not give us the answer to the last half of that riddle, there will be no Millennium Items for you to capture. There will be no world for you to rule. And there will be no _you _to control _with._ So I would advise that you aid us without question. Got it?"

"Do you think you intimidate me?" Bakura hissed back, a growl forming low in his throat. "Let me change your mind for you then--you don't." Kaeru looked as if he was ready to leap at the True thief's throat, but before such an action could happen, the tomb robber continued. "I'll help you, but only because I'd like to have enough time to destroy the Pharaoh and all of his pathetic friends myself. I don't want the Shadow Realm doing it for me." His dark grin widened, showing his pointed teeth, and he stood with his arms crossed, looking completely laid back. 

Kaeru, in response to his opposite's statement, snorted loudly but said nothing. Ryou, instead, stepped forward, coming to stand between the two yami spirits somewhat nervously. "Okay, Bakura....so what's the answer?"

The tomb robber stepped back a pace, as if withdrawing in disgust from his lighter half, and answered the question while glaring disdainfully at the other two spirits present. "The last four lines talk of a field surrounded by a forest."

"Good," Kawari said easily, arms crossed in a near-imitation of the True Ring spirit, his darker clothes and right-handed black glove giving him just as much a powerful air as the yami. "Now explain how you got it."

"If you need me to explain it to you idiots," Bakura said with a sneer, "then I will. 'Grass once green and stretching tall, all along the fields, now falls.' The answer to _that _is right within the lines, you fools--the word 'fields' is obvious there, and the rest of the two lines give one the idea that it is a larger field than most." His dark eyes glittered in triumph as he gazed at the others around him. "And as for the line after--'The woodland watchers--my pain they spy.' Woodland watchers obviously indicates a forest; what else could describe trees?" He spoke as if he was the superior and the rest of the group consisted insignificant weaklings that should have known better. "The last line doesn't make sense to me, but it's not as if it _matters._ You idiots will probably stumble on the answer just like you did last time with your pretty _stone dragon._" Explanation finished, the spirit snapped his mouth shut, satisfying himself by glaring daggers at the others around him--particularly Kaeru, Kawari, and Yami, though Ryou received quite a few burning stares as well.

Yami nodded his agreement slowly, after a second's hesitation. "He's right. It does make sense; even better is the concept within the location. A field is often the scene of battle."

Kaiba spoke up slowly. "There's one problem," he said carefully, frowning. 

"What?"

"There are at least three forest-surrounded fields located around Domino city. One is to the South, the other West, and third Southeast. All three are relatively close to Domino, but still, it may take a while to search out each area."

"We have to search all of them, though, at least until we find the location of this next Scroll...the Scroll of War," Kaze argued. 

"And _how _do you expect to go about doing that?" his opposite snapped back irritably.

"Simple," the Blue Eyes replied. "We'll split up into two groups again. One half of us will take one helicopter and fly to one of the fields. The other half will head to another field. If either of us finds something, we'll radio the other group and tell them to meet up at the designated field. If nothing is found, we'll both head to the last field at the same time. Make sense?"

"I suppose," Kaiba muttered back. "It's a plan, anyway, and it's more than I've got."

The group returned to their travel down the mountain-side, eagerness restored now that they had some idea of their next destination. Twelve of them clustered together in various groups; Bakura, however, walked behind the group, separated and a little off to the side, and nursing his newfound hate for Kawari. The spirit had decided not to return to his soul room, but rather to follow the rest of the group around, hoping eventually to find some point in which to gain his revenge. 

After another ten minutes had passed, Yugi suddenly stopped, frowning. "Wait a minute," he said suddenly. "What do we do with the Scroll we already have?"

Yami stared down at the rolled parchment clutched in his fist, also frowning. "An interesting question. We should designate someone to be in charge of carrying the Scrolls, so as to be sure we won't loose them." Yugi nodded in agreement, as did the rest of the group, and so the Pharaoh began to speak again. "If no one minds, I could always carry--"

Kaeru broke in quickly. "No offense, Pharaoh," he said, voicing the title respectfully, "but _I _would have to object to that." Yami raised an eyebrow, and the Negative tomb robber continued, explaining his interruption. "You see, though I understand that we are allies, and that we're starting to get along...I cannot ignore my memories of you in _my _Realm. I still can't trust you with such a powerful magical object, no matter how kind you are in any Realm."

Yami sighed. "I understand," he said, his tone low. Seeing the question in Kaeru's eyes, however, he spoke again. "I, however, share the same distrust. I do not think _either _of us should be the keeper of the Realm Scrolls."

"Agreed."

Kawari broke in abruptly. "Well," he said evenly, giving his own suggestion, "Why don't you give the Scrolls to the _old _Scroll Keeper?" He jerked his gloved hand in the direction of Kaze, who grimaced slightly. Kaiba, suddenly realizing what the sentence meant, widened his eyes in shock and blinked quickly to return his face to it's normal, emotionless expression. Yugi and Yami, too, seemed to know the meaning of the statement, as both wore twin expressions of understanding. 

Kaeru, however, nodded. "Not a bad idea," he said calmly, turning to Yami again. "If you have no objection....?"

Yami shook his head. "None."

Kaze sighed, rolling his eyes slightly. "Fine then. If it's what the group decides on, I will personally look after the Scrolls while we search for the others." There were no other arguments among the group, so the Opposition leader accepted the Scroll of Desire from Yami and placed it in a deep pocket within his trench coat. Those not used to him stared in shock at the fourteen-odd knives thrust in small sheaths on the insides of his coat, but the Negatives--and Yugi--thought nothing of them. 

The group continued walking, and a few minutes later, they reached the clearing that the helicopters had been left in. After some talk, the group split up into two; Kaze, Joey, Saguru, Yami, Yugi, and Tristen headed in the direction of one helicopter while Kaiba, Mokuba, Tea, Ryou, Kawari, Bakura, and Kaeru moved off to the second. 

Within moments, the two flight units had lifted off once more, rising high into the air with destinations in mind. Kaiba, after some conversing with his opposite, headed in the direction of the Western field, while Kaze's helicopter split off and headed to the Southeast one. 

The rides were uneventful, each roughly forty-five minutes long, and eventually both groups radioed each other to let the others know they had landed. Soon after, the search began, with each group spreading out it's members and searching amongst the fields and the edges of the trees.

Roughly ten minutes into the search, Kaze's group began to chatter absent-mindedly as they looked. They weren't exactly sure what they were searching for, but nevertheless went at it with a will, glancing around carefully for any unusual details that would give away the Scroll of War's location. Kaze soon found himself in a conversation with Saguru, Yami and Joey listening on as they looked.

"I can't believe how long this has been taking," Saguru muttered, looking around the fringes of the trees. "I mean, it took us more than two hours just to find the _first _Scroll, and we've got _six more _to go."

"I'm more worried about how the Opposition will be running without me," Kaze muttered darkly, sighing and rubbing his forehead as if he had a headache. "They're bound to notice we're gone soon."

"I don't think it's that bad. A _ton _of good agents were left behind, remember. Just because I'm second in the whole organization doesn't mean they won't turn to others if they discover you're gone."

"Only because _you're _gone too, you know." Kaze sighed again, sweeping the field with his eyes as the wind brushed his silver-and-blue flame pattered trench coat, making the fire look as if it was really dancing. He frowned slightly. "No, I wouldn't be worried if it was a regular day, but since we left during a _raid_....there'll be chaos back there, and it's usually hard to handle." 

Yami frowned in concern. "It's really a hard life over there, isn't it?"

"That's an understatement, Pharaoh," Kaze muttered. "Look at me. I'm seventeen, not even out of high school yet, and I'm running an organization that is the only block between the entire takeover of Japan. I could be preventing a World War III in my Realm. So I'm not too happy about leaving the Opposition, even for a little while." 

Joey looked shock. "_World War III?_" He hissed, surprised. "It's that bad?"

"Very much so." This was Saguru. "But don't worry, Kaze, the agents that'll be temporarily in charge are good at this kind of thing. So relax as best as you can; we've got a mission _here _first."

Kaze, however, frowned. "Wait. Who _is _being put in charge over there?"

Saguru tilted his head slightly as he thought. "I think Duke's in the next level after me; he's a pretty high agent, started in the Opposition early after he heard the Game Master Yugi died." He frowned slightly, glancing at Yami before continuing. "I think Keith Howard might have a pretty high status too, he might help--"

"Bandit Keith?!" Joey practically yelped, whirling to face his opposite. "What's _he _doing in the Opposition?!"

Saguru raised an eyebrow at his True self's reaction, but gamely answered the question. "Is that what he calls himself here? Funny. Anyway, Keith's an excellent strategist, and knows how to hit an opponent where it hurts. He's on Kaze here's War Council of Twelve; half the raids and battles we organize have some input from Keith."

Joey looked shocked. "Who's in the rest of the Council?"

Kaze sighed. "Normally, I couldn't tell you, but since you're from a different Realm...I don't count in the council, but the Twelve consist of Saguru here, Kawari, Kaeru, Malik Ishtar, Isis Ishtar, Rishid, Duke Devlin, Keith Howard, Pegasus, Rex Raptor, Weevil Underwood, and Mako Tsunami. A gathering of the greatest strategists that's ever been brought together, and each has won us a stunning advance in our fight against the Hand of the Shadow."

The True blonde looked shocked. "Wow. And half of those guys were our enemies, too." His thoughts dwindled in particular over Malik and Pegasus, though he forgot them soon enough. 

Kaze opened his mouth to respond, but at that moment Yugi and Tristen trotted up. "No good," the taller, brunette teen muttered, shaking his head. "There's nothing here."

The Opposition leader sighed. "Very well," he murmured, though slowly. "I'll radio the other group and tell them about our findings...or rather, lack of them." This said, he detached a small communicator from his belt and spoke into it, following through with what he had said.

Some miles Northwest of them, Kawari received the message on the other end of the communicator, sighing as he heard Kaze's relation of events. He delivered it to the rest of the group, which had gathered around him (with the exception of Bakura) when he had turned to speak into the little mini-radio. 

"They didn't find anything. They're going to hang around that field until we radio them back with our own findings."

Kaeru shrugged. "One down, two to go."

Becoming more determined at hearing this phrase, the rest of the group split up again, searching the fringes of the forest and looking over the meadowy field for some unusual sign. Ryou, in particular, seemed to be getting deeply involved in the search; it looked as though he was trying to be useful in _some _way, no matter what. Bakura walked along behind him moodily, not bothering to search at all, but rather keeping an annoyingly firm gaze at the useless sky above him. Kaeru, suspicious, followed along behind his True self, and Kawari therefore found himself tagging along behind the long chain of white-haired beings. 

Talk soon began to grow within the field as it had in the first group. Kawari and Kaeru followed along with their spy-like movements, listening to Ryou muttering the verse over and over slowly, and Bakura growling under his breath. The Negative tomb robber, narrowing his eyes, muttered to his black-clad hikari that his opposite's thoughts were becoming more angry--his temper was rising. Apparently, so Kaeru said, he was stewing over his two slightly humiliating losses, both to his Negative and Kawari.

At first, however, this growing temper didn't seem to do much. The True tomb robber seemed to have a fine time stomping several daises out of existence, but eventually he grew bored--daisies didn't _fear _you when you attacked them, and they rather lost his interest soon enough. His eyes began to focus on his own aibou, his temper rising even more until it was a wonder the nearby trees and bushes didn't catch fire. 

His anger soon came into effect, not ten minutes later. As Ryou was running to examine a twisted tree, looking for unusual marks in the bark, he tripped over a tree root. He fell and landed on his stomach, the wind knocked out of him, and he coughed hastily, trying to regain his breath. Bakura, only a few feet away, strode forward and leisurely kicked his aibou in the ribs. "Stand straight, you imbecile," he hissed angrily. Driving another kick into his lighter half's side, he waited impatiently, sharp fingernails digging into his arm from frustration and anger.

Ryou curled up in a ball out of reflex, but after the two kicks had passed and nothing else happened, he looked up at his darker half quizzically. Slowly and shakily, he brought himself to his feet, staring with a mix of fear and confusion at his yami.

Bakura grinned. "Good." Ryou wasn't sure what to think, but suddenly found his thoughts snapping into a firm decision as the tomb robber's hand slapped across his face. It was light, by the thief's standards, but it still hurt considerably. The white-haired teen yelped in pain and recoiled slightly, snapping his eyes shut.

Another blow landed across his other cheek, forcing his head painfully in the other direction. Ryou took a step back, yelping in pain once more, and stared in shock at his yami. He was doing this in _broad daylight! _Where other people could _see!_

Bakura must have picked up on his thoughts, because he grinned suddenly. "I know anyone can see. That, my weak hikari, does not matter. I need to vent my anger, and you are perfect to receive it." He smiled darkly again and drew back his fist. Ryou groaned and closed his eyes again, preparing. 

The blow never came, however. With an angry shout, someone yelled, "What the _hell _do you think you're doing?! Stop!"

Whipping his eyes open, Ryou stared in surprise. His Negative was running full-tilt across the meadowy field, black leather jacket flowing out behind him as he ran. He was only fifteen feet or so away, and still yelling angrily. Kaeru was only a few feet behind him, his face harboring steely twin eyes that practically screamed, "outrage!"

"What on _earth _do you want?" Bakura asked moodily, turning to face the others and leaving his shuddering hikari for the moment. 

Kawari came to rest only a few paces away from the True tomb robber, but he showed no fear whatsoever. He snapped angrily, "I told you to stop. Don't argue with me."

Bakura laughed. "Or you'll what?" he sneered, his malicious grin widening. "That yami of yours....my _Negative_...can't fight me, or we'll both be destroyed. And I doubt that you could do very much to me, you pathetic little mortal."

"I'm telling you right now, nice and simple. Stop. It."

The True Ring spirit laughed. "Hah! Do you think I would listen to you?" still grinning, he turned back to Ryou, drawing back his fist once more and letting the clenched hand fly. 

Ryou squeezed his eyes shut, praying that the spirit didn't hit to hard, but he never felt an impact--only a slightly windy feeling, as though someone had run past him quickly. He opened his eyes and stared in shock.

Kawari stood in front of him, back to his True self and facing Bakura with an icy stare. His right, gloved hand was up, wrapped around Baker's wrist with ease and holding the attack at bay, his muscles showing hardly any strain. With a quick jerk, he snapped the spirit's hand down and out of harm's way, twisting it slightly. He spoke, and his voice came out as a hiss. "I said to stop, _Bakura. _I won't give you another warning."

The spirit growled slightly, though managed to hide his surprise, even keeping it from going through his thought link to Kaeru. The Negative spirit still stood behind him, unable to do anything, but still at the ready. 

Growling, Bakura stepped back a step, averting his eyes from his hikari to show his surrender. Or, he thought with a grin, his _supposed _surrender. Still, he felt angry at having to retreat again--his pride had been wounded, and it only caused his temper to grow stronger. Oh, that upstart hikari was going to _get _it.

Still fixing him with an icy stare, Kawari turned and led his True self towards his own yami, who was still bristling angrily at seeing himself act in such a way. "You'll hang out with us for now," he said easily, though his distrust for Bakura was evident in his voice. 

Ryou sighed, nodding. "I suppose I should."

The rest of the search was uneventful, though Kaeru became increasingly worried for his aibou--or _both _of them, he thought with a slight grin--as he listened to his True self's dark thoughts. That tomb robber was out for blood, he thought uneasily, and he was determined to get it.

Sighing, Kawari radioed the first group, stating their failed search. Kaze, voice full of static, replied, telling him and the rest of the group to head to the final forest-bordered field in the Southern direction. 

That was how, almost a half hour later, the group found themselves landing in the largest field out of all three, glancing quickly over the first helicopter that had reached the field before the others. Piling out of the flight unit, the remainder of the large group moved to meet with their friends in the center of the field, grinning slightly.

"This one _has _to be it, then," Mokuba said, grinning brightly. Both Kaze and Kaiba grinned at the enthusiastic young one before moving off to search for themselves. 

The search didn't seem to be producing anything other than wearing patience, but the group kept at it. They examined trees, bushes, the ground, and several other things besides, though it was hard work. This field, by far, had the most trees surrounding it--even a Weeping Willow, planted at the opposite side of where they stood and swaying slightly in the breeze. 

Kaeru and Kawari made sure to stick close to Ryou, though they noticed with a mix of unease and anger that Bakura was never far behind. They were determined not to separate from the True hikari--unfortunately for them, however, this determination was soon broken.

It began when Kaze called the white-haired Negative pair over to examine an unusual detail he had found in the bark of an oak tree. Kawari had nodded quickly, motioned that he would be there soon, and turned to his opposite.

"Come on, let's go."

Ryou nodded. "Right."

The two had started off, Kaeru already halfway to the Opposition leader, when Ryou stopped. He had noticed a scribble in the sandy dirt at his feet, and wondered if it was a symbol to search for, or just a child's doodle. Curious, he knelt down to examine it, Kawari continuing on without noticing the separation.

It was then that Bakura pounced. Moving forward quickly, he lashed out heavily and kicked Ryou square in the chest, knocking the boy over onto his back without the hikari having time to yell out. Without waiting, he snapped a strong punch into the boy's stomach and sent a second to the head before kicking the teen in the ribs again, growling viciously the entire time.

Too late, Kaeru realized his mistake. He whirled, sensing his True self's darkened emotions, and stared in shock as he saw the tomb robber forcefully slapping the defenseless teen before him around. There wasn't much he could do, but....

"Kawari!" he hissed, even as he ran towards the boy already too far away. "Kawari, he's at it again! See if you can stop him!"

Kawari whirled, eyes widening in surprise as he focused on Bakura. He was still too far away to do anything, but he ran back gamely, shouting. "Bakura, damn you! I told you to stop! How hard is it to get that one word through that thick skull of yours?!"

Bakura laughed, staring Kawari down in hatred. "You have no place ordering me around. I am a yami; I am more powerful than you, invincible, immortal. You are lowly, weak, pathetic. So back off."

Kawari had neared the tomb robber and hissed angrily, "You're a fool. You shouldn't make such judgements until you know the person you're dealing with. And you have _no _right to abuse your hikari! _Never!_"

Bakura did not take lightly to being insulted in such a way. He growled angrily, pacing forward a few steps towards the Negative hikari. Others, seeing Bakura's actions, had begun to run forward as well, encircling the tomb robber in hopes of stopping him. However, they had no way to predict what would happen next.

With an angry roar, the True Ring spirit lashed out with his hand, slapping Kawari clean across the right cheek and drawing three thin bloody lines with his fingernails. 

There was a hushed silence for a few moments, during which nobody moved, or even breathed, beyond Bakura in his temporary form. Kawari kept his head in it's recoiled position, facing left and downward, it's direction caused by the True tomb robber's attack. His bangs blocked his face, but his hands were clenched--whether from fear or anger, one could not say. 

All at once, however, Kaeru reached the tight circle. With an angry yell, he leaped forward, hell-bent on beating Bakura to a bloody pulp. He never got to touch the spirit, however--for Kawari shot out his gloved hand, stopping his yami in his tracks. The spirit's eyes glazed slightly as he received what was obviously a mind-link message from his hikari, and what was most likely an order _not _to attack Bakura. And still, Kawari's head had not come back up.

Then, quite suddenly, the attacked hikari moved. Slowly, ever so slowly, his head raised, coming to a strong-looking, set back position. His bangs had returned to their original places, and his eyes were visible. And his eyes...his eyes were no longer friendly, or innocent. No, they were perfect reflections of the fiery anger in Bakura's own orbs, a focused, deadly anger that, once released, would bring hell on the one facing him. 

Very, very slowly, his voice struck the air, cleaving the silence like a knife. "You," he said, his voice harsh, yet ultimately calm, as if he hadn't yet noticed the blood running down his cheek, "have just crossed the line there..._Bakura._"

The True spirit growled angrily in reply, annoyed at the Negative hikari's unusual reaction. Nevertheless, a slow, grim smile spread across his face, dark and causing his brown eyes to glitter with a malicious light. "Did I?" he asked mockingly, cocking his head to the side lightly in an almost jaunty fashion.

The teen he was talking to, however, had already begun to ignore him--but not the same way that Ryou did. Kawari had raised his voice to a loud, powerful level, and he spoke as his own dark eyes swept over the crowd of eleven around him. "Everyone," he announced calmly, still ignoring the small cuts slashing down his cheek, "I want you to back off. Right now. In a circle; I don't want myself _or _this idiot here getting out of what's well deserved. And snap to it." This said, he leaned back on his heels calmly, crossing his hands in front of his chest in a completely casual position and fixing Bakura with a perfectly level, emotionless stare.

Saguru and Kaze, both Negatives who knew Kawari quite well, followed the given orders almost instantly, ignoring the fact that they both held a much higher rank in the Opposition than the white-haired teen did, and knowing that the opposite hikari did not really have the authority to give orders to them. They stepped back a good ten paces, forming the small beginnings of a wide circle and standing at the ready. The rest of the group, after a second's hesitation, followed their example and stepped backwards as well, though they fidgeted as if they weren't sure what to do. Only Kaeru did not move, standing at his aibou's side and shooting a dark glare at his opposite.

Kawari didn't even look over his shoulder, but spoke with a strong, ordering tone. "That means you too, yami," he said evenly, no doubt speaking to his darker half. Kaeru growled again, but finally sighed and slid backwards to complete the wide circle, coming to rest only a few paces from Yami.

Kawari now stared across at Bakura, both of them trapped within the ring formed by their friends. His stance was casual, but only a fool would take him for being lazy; he was obviously ready to move at the drop of a hat. "Now," he said calmly, "for you."

Bakura chuckled slightly. He didn't have a clue what this idiot hikari was up to, but he was absolutely certain that whatever it was, he would win. He was already interested, and vaguely curious, at the white-haired Negative's immediate actions, and his eyes flickered momentarily to the ring of teens surrounding him before returning to the Light across from him. 

The Negative Ryou continued speaking easily, the ghost of a grim smile playing over his face. "Now," he said easily, "I understand from my True Realm self that you give quite a few 'lessons.'" Though he gave no accusations, it was obvious what the word 'lessons' was supposed to imply.

Bakura grinned sickeningly in reply. He laughed with an almost evil tone, throwing back his head slightly before returning his gaze quite suddenly to his opposite hikari. "You could say that."

"Ah. I see." The words were said with a simple tone of understanding, but Kawari's eyes flashed with anger, unhidden. "Of course. Well, I've never been one to pass up an opportunity at education." He stood straighter, staring Bakura challengingly straight in the eye. "So start teaching."

The True tomb robber raised an eyebrow before breaking into full-throated laughter. "Do you even know what I _teach, _you fool?" he asked, cracking his knuckles threateningly.

Kawari's eyes glittered brightly, but he only shrugged. "I know quite well," he said easily, showing not one hint of fear, "but if I'm such a weak hikari as you've so often said, then you'd want to fix that, yes? So start teaching." As if giving an invitation, the teen spread his arms wide, his coat rustling slightly as he moved.

Again, the dark spirit laughed, sending shivers down the watcher's spines. Each and every teen, with the exception of the Negatives, was absolutely shocked at what Kawari was saying; Ryou, in particular, was horrified at what his opposite was doing. Bakura, however, was quite interested. 

"Very well," he snapped, a growl forming low in his throat. "If you're such a fool, perhaps you do need a lesson." Without warning, he leaped forward, his fist clenched tightly, sharp knuckles at the ready, and with hand drawn back to deliver a full, painful blow.

Kawari did not move, even as he watched the spirit close the distance between them. He kept his position, arms spread, quite calmly, though the confident, grim smile on his face left the stunned watchers quite confused.

Bakura's hand shot forward, lashing out dangerously at Kawari's head--and it was then that the hikari moved. His black-gloved hand plunged into the insides of his dark leather coat, clenching something quickly and withdrawing with lightning speed.

There was a sudden flash of silver steel, a yelp of startled pain, and suddenly Bakura was recoiling backward a step, staring at Kawari with surprise and clutching a shoulder with stiff fingers. A reddish liquid seeped underneath his hand, and farther down his arm another cut sliced cleanly through his skin, allowing blood to pour forth sluggishly. 

Kawari, on the other hand, was completely unharmed. His gloved hand was wrapped easily around a long, sharpened blade; on first sight it looked almost like a sword, but after several seconds one would recognize that it was far shorter. The blade was hardly longer than fifteen inches, with the entire weapon a few inches shy of two feet. The hikari's glove--obviously recognized as a fencing glove, now--held a black grip with silver lining in a practiced manner, and the pommel of the blade--a Dirk [1]--formed the shape of that of a cobra's head. Kawari's stance, too, had changed; he no longer looked defenseless and weak, but instead had his feet placed firmly, his weight distributed evenly and his face cold and calculated. 

His speed, too, had been quite impressive. Those watching had not had the chance to completely register Kawari's set of moves upon Bakura's attack; they only just now, during the sudden lull, had a chance to pick apart the moves and recognize what the hikari did. The results, when what they had seen had caught up with their minds, were quite impressive. Kawari had jerked out his dirk with remarkable speed, slicing clean upwards to parry the darker thief's punch; once the attacking fist was successfully out of the way, the lighter teen had stabbed outward, thrusting his blade deep into the spirit's shoulder. 

Quite evenly the Negative hikari began to speak, as he raised the double-edged blade in his gloved hand to chest level easily. "Tut, tut. Not a very good teacher, are you?"

Bakura growled angrily in response, whipping his bloodied hand away from his stabbed shoulder. It had hurt at first, but now he was far too angry to care about a bit of pain. He said nothing, though, only glared at the hikari across from him in pure hate.

The Light, meanwhile, had continued speaking. "Perhaps the student should give the teacher a few pointers?" he asked, his tone a perfect mask of innocence, though the mocking words stabbed far deeper into the spirit's pride than any dirk ever could. The spirit, as before, hissed his hate, but Kawari ignored him and kept on speaking. "Ah, of course, thank you, _oh teacher._ Lesson one: _never _attack an enemy until you know of their weapons and defenses, or you could very well end up dead or injured. 'The Cobra's bite is deadly because one does not notice it's poison until it is too late to be countered.'"

Bakura practically shook with rage, but even in his anger and hate he focused on the blade in Kawari's hand for the first time--in particular, on the silver cobra pommel, the creature's hood flaring out dangerously, with it's fanged mouth open. His efforts to hide his approval of the blade and it's glittering, sharp edge were in vain; he almost nodded as he stared at the perfect little blade in the Light's hand.

Kawari had noticed the spirit's stare, and laughed darkly. "Ah, so you've noticed my little beauty here, have you?" He fingered the cross guard at the base of the blade absent-mindedly with his gloved hand, which was beautifully carved with the coils of the cobra that formed to pommel. He continued speaking, his own pride evident in his voice. "It's a very useful blade; it has earned it's name--_Gin Hebi._" The name seemed to interest Bakura, but the spirit wisely said nothing. Kawari now took to stroking the cobra-pommel's silvery head, even as he hissed his next words. "My yami gave this to me, you know. He gave me a very interesting bit of advice on the day I received it. Do you know what it is?" The tomb robber opposite him shook his head, still glaring darts at the lighter teen, but Kawari seemed to be enjoying what he was saying and continued, ignoring the spirit's glare. "I'll tell you, then. I believe his exact words were: 'This is your protection, your weapon, the cobra your blade guide. It enjoys the taste of the blood of it's enemies. Feed it well.'" His grin grew wider, his eyes darker. "I think I'll follow his advice right now."

Bakura's eyes hardened. "As if you even know how to use a blade of that strength. You may have gotten a lucky attack in on me before, but you won't last five minutes against me now." 

"Do you doubt my skill with a blade?" Kawari asked quietly, not once dropping his ready stance. 

"Very much so."

"You'll just have to see for yourself what I know and what I don't, then."

The ancient thief grinned. "Very well."

There was almost no movement for nearly ten seconds as the dark spirit and his lighter opponent faced each other; Kawari stood perfectly still, his ready position having dropped to that of a guard stance, the blade held out in a ready fashion, but also close enough to defend should he have to. Bakura, too, stood still, only flexing his muscles in readiness as he prepared to attack.

Abruptly, the stillness was broken as the ancient thief began to move forward swiftly. He had to be careful, he knew; though he doubted his opponent's ability with a blade was very great, he still had no intention of being cut by accident. He planned to only test this Negative Ryou's abilities first, to search for a weakness, and then to strike there.

Without warning, he snapped his fist outward, aiming straight for the opposite's head. Quick as lightning, _Gin Hebi _rose, it's flat blade pressing hard against the side of Bakura's wrist. With a flick, it batted the momentum-propelled arm to the side, moving it completely off course with ease. Kawari's face looked quite calm, as if he hadn't yet noticed that somebody had just tried to attack him, yet from his movements he obviously did. With another swift movement, the blade flickered again, and it's point was aimed quite suddenly at Bakura's forehead.

Wanting to avoid being skewered through his head, the spirit quickly backed up a pace, thinking carefully. From the looks of it, this Negative light had quick reflexes and some defensive skill--that, and he knew how to reposte [2] at the right point and time, valuable knowledge. Still deep in thought, the spirit turned his point of attack, this time forcing his opponent to move so as to see how well his cadence [3] was--something that could well be taken advantage of, if it lacked proper even weight distribution and equal steps. 

Moving forward with quite a bit of speed and momentum, Bakura tried menacing his opponent quickly, forcing him to move and keep his guard in all directions at once. He was annoyed to find that Kawari's guard stance was perfect, as was his movements, and he kept an eye on his attacker at all times. Growling, the ancient tomb robber found himself coming one step to close. 

With absolutely no sound at all, Kawari lunged forward, propelling his front leg towards his opponent while keeping his back leg still. His dirk sliced forward through the air, slashing rapidly and skillfully across his opponent's chest; within seconds, a gash in both fabric and skin had opened across Bakura's upper torso, shallow but painful. Before the spirit could even retaliate, however, the Negative teen had already withdrawn, sliding back into his guard stance gracefully, _Gin Hebi_'s point aimed directly for the darker being's chest once again.

With a hiss of pained surprise, the spirit pulled backward as well, not allowing himself to press a hand to his newly-bloodied chest for fear of showing signs of weakness. His temper began to rise; when Kawari spoke, it only added to his anger.

"And here's lesson two: don't step into you're opponent's territory when they have the Right of Way [4]--you're bound to get hurt, in that case." The Negative smirked slightly, his blade still held levelly and without one hint of fear. 

Bakura growled angrily as the words seeped into his registration. He had been insulted, _again_...this hikari was going to pay _tenfold _when he lost. _He's seriously starting to piss me off. I think I might just have to teach him a little lesson of my own...._

His next actions decided, he slowly reached into his back pocket. The knife he'd been using on Ryou earlier should have still been there, and he could end this little fight fairly quickly with the aid of a weapon. But he blinked in surprise as his hands clenched around empty space in his pocket--the knife was gone.

"Looking for this?" Kawari asked smoothly. Bakura snapped his head up and stared in surprise at the pocket-knife held in the opposite teen's non-gloved hand. It glittered slightly in the sun-light, it's blade quite noticeable.

"How did you...?" The spirit began, staring at the blade unblinkingly.

The white-haired teen shrugged in reply. "I figured you would try to fight dirty against _somebody _here eventually, so I took the liberty of removing it from your pocket when I forced you to give up your hold on Ryou in the mountains." He grinned slightly. "You have to learn to fight with honor, you know. Planning to stab me in the back?" He shook his head mockingly, tutting, before tossing the blade over his shoulder to his own yami. Kaeru, surprisingly, grasped the blade and began sharpening his fingernails on it in an almost bored fashion.

Bakura growled. "It doesn't matter. I can rip you apart with my own two hands."

"We'll see."

"We will indeed!" With a roar, the ancient spirit bounded forward, hoping to catch the hikari he faced off-guard. The teen, however, was quite prepared; as Bakura charged, he jammed his weaponless arm and sharp elbow into the darker being's chest, slamming it straight into the already-painful cut. As the thief hissed in pain, Kawari whirled the blade in his hands so that he held it pommel-forward and rammed the silver cobra's head forcefully into his opponent's stomach. 

Bakura rocked backward at the force of the blow, the air completely forced from his lungs. Even as he recoiled, Kawari gave him one last attack; _Gin Hebi_'s shining blade slashed lightly across his shoulder, not doing much damage but certainly serving as a warning.

The ancient tomb robber panted as he regained his footing, coming to stand only a few feet from his opponent, but decidedly out of reach. That young light had caused him some pain, of course, but he had found what he wanted--a weakness. The boy's slashes with the dirk all held a certain rhythm; good to have in most blade-fighting cases, but certainly not when it could be timed. And furthermore, the boy left his side open and vulnerable when he lunged with his dirk, a dangerous opening that could very well end him.

"Are you done warming up?" Kawari asked, his voice sounding nearly lazy, but his eyes contradicting his tone.

"Quite," Bakura snapped back angrily, coming to stand tall once more.

"Good. Then perhaps we shall begin the real fight."

"Perfect. And perhaps you'll stop taunting me and fight like a true blade master." Kawari's eyes betrayed his momentary shock, but they quickly recovered. Not, however, without Bakura seeing. The spirit grinned. "Yes, I can tell you were using a few taunting attacks. Fool. You are far too obvious. You are going to show me your true strength--if you've _got _any!--and you are going to do it now."

Contrary to the reaction the ancient thief thought he was going to get, the Negative Ryou raised an amused eyebrow and asked calmly, "You sure you want me to do that? You might get hurt, you know." The last sentence was said mockingly, but it was an interesting phrase to hear--the hikari delivered the line with a straight, innocent face and a calm tone. 

Bakura hissed angrily, his temper boiling at the mocking tone. "I'm going to have to kill you for that."

"Just try it."

Both fell silent at the same time, and, as if agreeing, suddenly began to circle. Their eyes were locked, observing each other carefully, cautiously. Kawari gripped _Gin Hebi _tightly, his gloved hand fitting in with the blackened handle and silver lining. Bakura was cracking his knuckles constantly, so hard that they were turning somewhat white as he moved. Both held smooth, steady paces, Kawari looking as if he were a ghost gliding over the ground, his opponent moving with the grace of a seasoned thief.

Abruptly, the Negative spoke. "Well," he commented dryly. "This is no fun. So I think I'll just go ahead and attack." The blade he held lowered slightly, resting by his side, but his grip was tense, as if he was already planning on where to attack with it. 

The tomb robber across from him frowned slightly. _Open declaration of an attack? That is quite possibly the worst bluff I've ever heard...or perhaps a trick?_ Had he been in his normal frame of mind, he would have questioned the hikari's choice of words and tread cautiously; however, the lighter being had craftily built up his opponent's temper, and his anger got in the way of his judgement and reasoning, throwing him off-track.

Kawari quite suddenly jerked forward, advancing a pace and drawing his dirk up higher, it's point glittering in Bakura's direction threateningly. Reacting quickly, the spirit shot out a fist in hopes of driving off his opponent or deflecting an attack--and it was then, he noticed with a sense of startled anger, that he realized Kawari had not attacked at all. _A feint! He used a _feint _on me!_

Angry, the spirit started to withdraw, but he was too late. The hikari, seeing the thief off-balance with all his weight thrown in one direction, darted forward quickly, blade drawn and at the ready. Knowing the spirit had no way to defend himself in his current position, he slipped around the outstretched fist and slashed outward forcefully, drawing a deep, grating gash in the darker being's right hip as he blazed by. He allowed himself to move forward a few paces out of harm's way, mostly with his momentum carrying him, before sliding to a halt and freezing, blade still outstretched and still half in a lunging position. 

Bakura allowed himself another hiss of pain that came perilously close to a shriek, and whirled angrily, facing his opponent. _He's going to die. He's going to die._

The spirit darted forward quickly, taking advantage of the fact that his opponent's back was to him as he ran. Kawari, hearing Bakura behind him just in time, whirled and managed to parry a strong downward punch with the flat of his blade, pressing the cool metal to the darker being's inner forearm and pushing it upward and out of harm's way, standing up as he did so. The tomb robber, without hesitation, punched outward with his second fist, hoping to draw the hikari off guard, or perhaps even landing a blow. Unfortunately, it didn't work quite as well as he had planned; the lighter being managed to block the second punch with his own, weaponless left arm, hitting it upwards and throwing the attack off-target as well. Reposting quickly, the white-haired teen tried to slash out at his opponent, but missed, only succeeding in driving his attacker slightly away--the two parted in a stalemate for that particular round.

Hissing angrily, Bakura's anger rose again. He wasn't in the mood to come to a _stalemate _against this hikari; he wanted to defeat him mercilessly. He decided to use the weakness he had discovered to his advantage at that moment, and quickly set out a plan to do so. 

Ideas in mind, the tomb robber slipped forward quickly, moving to the hikari's left side and darting forward as if he meant to attack. Reacting quickly, Kawari slashed after his opponent with _Gin Hebi,_ hoping to cut another wound into his opponent's flesh; however, Bakura had planned on such an attack. With a mighty roar, he broke off sideways, half-sliding, half-rolling beneath the dirk and coming to a stop at the Negative teen's right side--a side that was open, completely unprotected, with the blade so far away. Grinning triumphantly, Bakura's fist slammed outwards, colliding with a sharp thud into the side of the opposite Ryou's head. 

Letting out a muffled, hissing yelp of pain, the Negative's head snapped to the opposite side under impact, and he staggered left, his grip loosening slightly on his blade but not dropping it. Seeing his chance, the ancient thief darted forward, ramming another fist deep into Kawari's stomach and throwing the boy's oxygen from his lungs in a loud "ooof!" The teen fell back a few more paces, his stance no longer even, and his movements jerky. Grinning, Bakura's fist pulled back for a third blow.

As the deadly hand hurled through the air, Kawari's senses abruptly returned to him. Seeing the attack coming, he did the first thing he could think of--he dropped to his knees, allowing the attack to sweep harmlessly over him...and, at the same time, bringing him within the spirit opponent's defenses. 

With a deadly hiss, the Negative grasped _Gin Hebi _firmly, and quite suddenly jerked his hand, and the blade, upward. He stabbed cleanly, sweeping over the skin of his opponent in a rush; the blade slid it's razor edge underneath Bakura's arm, sliding up and around to his back and slicing over the skin of his shoulder blade. A definite scream erupted from the ancient being, and he recoiled hastily, a few of his own steps staggering and uneven.

Kawari rose to his feet swiftly, regaining his guard position within moments. He spoke, too, his voice cold and harsh. "I saw that exact same cut on my True self, undoubtedly from you," he said calmly, flickering his dirk and allowing several flecks of blood to shiver off of it. "Now I'm giving it back to you."

Bakura growled angrily in reply, hissing in vexation. He had underestimated his opponent, a fatal move in most cases, and it was already catching up to him. He bit his lip to keep himself from clutching at the new gash scissoring across his shoulder blade and ran over his options slowly.

Quite suddenly, he grinned. Despite the opponent facing him, the dirk at ready and the cocky grin that had spread over the light's face, the tomb robber smiled, an insane light seeming to glitter in his eyes. There was more than one way to win a battle, he had learned from experience, and he was just going to have to turn to a different tactic.

Turning slightly, Bakura began backing up towards the edge of the surrounding ring of teens. To most watchers, it looked as if he was retreating. He, however, knew quite well that he was doing nothing of the sort; on the contrary, his plan consisted of being close enough to the outer ring to snatch a hostage. He grinned in delight as he saw his own aibou standing in almost perfect alignment with the direction he was going. A perfect hostage, indeed.

He was only a few feet from the True Ryou when he felt something slash painfully at his calves through his jeans. He turned in surprise, finding Kawari facing him with a dark glare. 

"What the hell?!" Bakura spat in frustration. The feeling doubled as Kawari slid around him with lightning speed, standing between the spirit and the True hikari with his dirk drawn and glinting dangerously.

"You do not take hostages in a battle such as this," the Negative Ryou spat disgustedly, frowning, and with a bit of a growl in his voice. "You fight with no honor, thief."

"Does it even matter?" the tomb robber hissed back angrily, temper rising, fists clenching. 

"What the hell do you think? I, at least, fight with a few morals in mind. _You, _however, have a darker outlook on how one conducts a fight, and one that I look down on. Fools with no honor win no battles."

That sentence had hit a mark, scoring it deep in the ancient spirit's mind. With a roaring yell, he leaped forward, fist slamming outward dangerously. Kawari tried to parry, but the blow was too sudden, and it hit him forcefully in the shoulder. The Negative rocked back, stumbling, and Bakura seized the moment to double his barrage of punches. He lashed out; Kawari stumbled backwards further, clutching his stomach. Another wild lash; the opposite hikari groaned as he was hit at the base where his chest and neck combined, knocking the wind completely out of him. Snarling, the tomb robber's fist snapped back for another blow, and with a roar it rocketed forward, colliding squarely with his opponent...and stopped, hissing his pain, as a sharp jolt in his knuckles caused him to withdraw.

Cursing, the spirit glanced quickly at his fist, still shoved painfully into Kawari's chest as if his attack had frozen, and swore in surprise. His fist had collided with the Millennium Ring hanging around the Negative Ryou's neck and onto his chest; his knuckles, therefore, had rammed painfully into the hard, cold metal that formed the Eye of Horus in the little point-up pyramid at the Ring's center. He jerked his hand back, growling deep in his throat like a wounded dog--that damned Ring, and that Gods-damned opposite of his, was getting in the way. _How _had the stupid thing managed to get in his way after his victory was so close?

But he had no further time to speculate on that point. Kawari, though still doubled over slightly in pain, had felt his opponent hesitate for a few precious seconds, and had taken full advantage of the pause. He slashed out, completely at random, with _Gin Hebi_, cutting the spirit deeply in his attacking arm and forcing the tomb robber to retreat. Free of immediate attack, he forced himself to stand, though somewhat raggedly, and faced his opponent through a screen of silver-white bangs.

Kaeru, meanwhile, had been watching the entire battle without one hint of fear or worry. He stood with arms crossed in a casual position, his dark brown eyes following his aibou every step of the way. Yami, beside him, showed no such lenient air. He was frowning in concern, his eyes flickering noticeably as the Negative Ryou within the ring of teens took the long string of punches. He glanced at his fellow spirit, asking sharply, "Aren't you going to do anything?"

Kaeru glanced at the spirit next to him calmly. "Like what?"

The Pharaoh had to concentrate not to let his mouth fall, and said coldly, "Your _aibou _is out there taking a massive beating from your other half! Aren't you going to help him?"

"I would, but my _aibou,_" the Negative Bakura said easily, emphasizing the word with importance, "has requested that I _not _join the fight. This is something he has to do on his own, and I will not stand in his way and make it worse for him if he does not want me to."

"But--" Yami began to protest, but Kaeru cut him off.

"Just stop talking, Pharaoh, and pay attention."

Kawari and Bakura, meanwhile, had fallen apart and were still staring at each other coldly, as if daring the other to attack. Bakura, finally loosing his temper completely, exploded, "Fool! Always attacking and retreating, never standing your ground! Why don't you _truly _fight me, unless you are so terrified you can do nothing but fight me as you have?!"

The Negative Ryou's face never changed, but his voice took on a sharper tone, a more deadly one. "Do you really wish for me to attack you outright? No waiting, no toying, no retreating?" At Bakura's nod, he hissed softly, "Very well, but I think you're asking for more than you can handle. _My yami._" The last two words were said in a tone almost dripping with sarcasm, though the speaker's face never once changed. 

The tomb robber facing him growled menacingly, now like a dog that was about to attack--but he never got the chance to. In a flurry of black, grey, and silver-white, Kawari had dashed forward with unimaginable speed, his long black leather jacket trailing out behind him, his baggy pants hardly making a sound for all the fabric in them. Moving as though lighting, no, as though liquid steel, the Negative brought his blade to bear and slashed outward.

Bakura had no time to react--within seconds, he felt a biting, sharp sting along the sides of his left ribs as the blade sliced along them; the cut was not deep, but it stung in an annoyingly painful way. Before he even got the chance to react, however, a stronger, more powerful sting stabbed through his shoulder as _Gin Hebi _plunged deep, scratching at bone, before retreating. The spirit roared in pain, but before the sound had had hardly two seconds to rip out of his throat, Kawari had whirled gracefully and was slicing at the tomb robber's shins, trying to force him to fall. The spirit leaped backwards, but the white-haired hikari moved with him, now slashing with quicksilver speed at his opponent's upper arm. Again, not allowing Bakura time to react, he slid evenly into a new stance, slashing out at his opponent for the fifth time in a row and drawing a new bloody line along the thief's back, nearly matching his earlier wound over his shoulder blade. Five attacks each successfully connecting and completed, he leaped gracefully backwards, landing easily with one knee on the ground in a crouching position and his blade resting, still in his grip, in front of his upright leg. All five attacks had been preformed in less than ten seconds, each being preformed with deadly perfection and with a smooth delivery that made them seem almost like an art, and less of an attack. 

Finally allowed to completely react, Bakura hissed in full-felt pain, blood now streaming from his new wounds rapidly. He couldn't die, of course, and he knew it, but the realization of such a thought did not keep him from registering his very real pain. "You little..." he growled softly, staring at his opponent with unchecked hate.

"I did warn you," Kawari replied in a level tone, not flinching even slightly on seeing the burning rage in the True spirit's eyes. "That fact that you did not choose to listen to me would be _your _fault, not mine."

Bakura roared in all out rage as his temper finally and completely snapped. He had grown tired of his opponent's constant games and taunts, and he was going to end it all _right now._

With another deep-throated roar, the spirit launched himself forward towards Kawari. The hikari thrust _Gin Hebi _out quickly, but Bakura took the blade's punishment without caring, not even feeling as it sliced deeply into his side, leaving another bloodied gash above the first along his ribs. Instead he blazed by the dirk, lashing out with one powered fist and hitting the Negative square in the side of the head. The opposite's vision exploded into stars, and Bakura took advantage of his opponent's sudden, frozen movements and temporary lost sight to shove forcefully into him, knocking him painfully down onto the ground on his back. 

Kawari felt himself land with a dull thud, and a shivering chill of pain shot up his spine. He hastily assessed any damage done to him; he knew he wasn't badly hurt, but he was on the ground now, and open to any attacks that might come from the spirit he fought. Hastily he blinked the bright stars out of his vision and stared up at his attacker, eyes narrowed in anger.

Bakura stood over his opponent, bleeding freely but not seeming to care. He was breathing hard, his chest heaving with the effort of finally grounding his opponent despite his wounds, but a grim smile played over his face at the same time. Standing straight-backed and almost proudly, the spirit hissed, "For all your talk, you're nothing but a little weakling. Disappointing, really; you did show some skill with a blade, and I would have thought you had learned more." He snorted disdainfully, flicking a speck of blood off of his face as he spoke.

Kawari's face was as hard as stone, but he waited patiently. His non-gloved hand, not wrapped around the hilt of a weapon, curled defiantly in the dusty ground beside him, as if he planned to plunge that fist deep into the opposing spirit's stomach. "Well?"

The tomb robber laughed. "Ah, but of course--you need your punishment, now, don't you?" He began to pace forward slowly, only a few feet from his fallen opponent, not noticing the ghost of a smile curling around the corners of Kawari's mouth.

The Negative Ryou, meanwhile, seemed to be counting the thief's steps, as if waiting for something. When the spirit was not even a foot away, he suddenly flowed into action, moving with breathtaking speed. 

The hand that had curled angrily into the dust suddenly shot up, and for the first time the watchers realized that it was clenching a fistful of dusty, sandy dirt. With perfect aim, Kawari released the earth in his hands, flinging it with force into the startled tomb robber's eyes. The spirit, now temporarily unable to see, reared backwards, cursing, and scrabbled at his eyes, trying to clear away the particles impairing his vision.

It was all the invitation Kawari needed. With absolutely no sound, he curled his legs upward, bringing them tight to his chest before kicking upward and outward. They connected squarely with Bakura's already-bloody chest, and the thief, unable to counter due to his lack of vision, fell backwards and landed on his back painfully. The Negative, however, wasn't done; the momentum of his kick had jerked him upright, and he landed on his feet smoothly, stance ready and blade raised. 

Without hesitation, Kawari dashed forward, moving only two paces before reaching his opponent. With more force than may have perhaps been necessary, he slammed his left foot down on Bakura's chest, holding the spirit carefully in place so that he could not get up and escape. 

The True tomb robber, meanwhile, had managed after some difficulty to blink the extra sand out of his eyes. He had started to raise himself to his feet from his position on his back when a hammer-like force slammed him back down, and quite suddenly there was a heavy amount of pressure on his chest, holding him so that he could not get up. Growling, Bakura stared up into the eyes of his opponent; they still had no gleam of their original friendly innocence, only a dark, knowing, deadly look. The spirit, unsure of how to react, tried instead to rise to his feet, attempting to shove Kawari off of him; that is, he tried until he felt cold steel tickling his throat gently, and hastily pulled back to force his head to the ground.

Kawari kept his foot calmly on Bakura's chest, holding _Gin Hebi_'s sharpened point calmly to the tomb robber's throat. He, too, knew the spirit couldn't actually die, but he could still feel the pain of what would have meant death for him, and he doubted that, for all his boasting, Bakura would enjoy feeling such a thing. Very slowly, he spoke.

"I believe," he said calmly, only showing the slightest signs of fatigue, "that I have just out-maneuvered you." A hissing growl of hate was all that replied, but he ignored it, instead continuing. "And I believe," he said slowly, sounding almost lazy, "that that would mean I have won against you."

"Think what you want," Bakura snapped back, the hate in his eyes unmatched, "but you're still far weaker than I. You used that sand, after all, to attack me, so therefore you couldn't defeat me on your own."

"Is that what you think?" Kawari asked, raising an eyebrow. "If you fight dirty--which you did, just to clarify--then I, in return, will fight dirty, just so that I am evenly matched against you. You brought it upon yourself, you fool."

"What did you call me?!"

"I called you a fool," the Negative Ryou said evenly, "and you very much deserve the title. Now," he added slowly, his eyes narrowing and his voice dropping to a hiss, "this all began when you attacked _me._ I would advise you not to do such a thing in the future, or you will find yourself in very real pain once more."

Bakura grinned despite himself. "Hah, but that scar on your cheek will go nicely with the rest of your idiotic self."

"And so will yours." 

"What?"

There was a quick, silvery flash as _Gin Hebi_'s blade sliced three deep lines in the spirit's right cheek in imitation of the three sharp marks on Kawari's own face. Bakura was so shocked he didn't even have time to react properly, and hardly felt the pain so much as his surprise.

Kawari continued speaking, his voice harsh and angry. "_That's _for attacking me across the face, you idiot," he hissed. "I always give back gifts given to me. So there you go, and I hope you're satisfied." With that said, he listened to Bakura roar in anger before bringing his dirk slicing down out of the air at his opponent's face.

At first, it looked as though the blade was going to pierce clean through the tomb robber's forehead; however, at the last second and with remarkable speed, Kawari reversed the dirk's direction so that the silver cobra's head lanced down instead. With a sharp crack, the hood of the snake pommel slammed into Bakura's forehead; he looked a bit surprised for a second, but his eyes quickly rolled to the back of his head as he was knocked unconscious.

Standing slowly, Kawari glanced around at the others staring him. He seemed not to notice their wide-eyed expressions of shock, however, as his attention was soon drawn to his blade. The razor-sharp ends were scored with his opponent's blood. With an annoyed snort, the Negative light bent down to crouch next to the unconscious spirit's temporary body, hissing, "Bloody bastard," in the direction of the True thief as he wiped _Gin Hebi _clean on the sleeve of his fallen opponent.

As he stood again, the Negative teen seemed to notice the stares he was receiving for the first time. He blinked in confusion, not _quite _understanding the reason that nearly all of the teens save the Negatives were goggling wide-eyed at him. He particularly noticed Ryou's amazed expression, and raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Geeze, you look like you've seen a ghost. What's wrong?"

Ryou, stammering slightly, hastily responded. "You...you just....I can't believe I--I mean, you--just..." he didn't seem capable of finishing his sentence, which made Kawari's grin only grow.

"Hah, he deserved it." He glared disdainfully at the unconscious form of Bakura before continuing, his grin fading and being replaced with a frown. "You really don't stand up to him, though, do you?"

Ryou only shook his head in reply, still too shocked to speak.

The remaining teens moved forward hurriedly, each wanting to ask Kawari a question after marveling at his amazing blade skills. Only Kaze, Saguru, and Kaeru looked as if it was completely natural, which, to them, it was.

Before they had a chance to speak, however, the Negative hikari suddenly winced and placed his non-gloved hand to his temple, rubbing an area where he had received a painful blow gingerly. "Damn it, yami, I forgot how strong your left hook was."

Kaeru looked at his aibou out of the corner of his eye, muttering calmly, "I can't very well help that, can I?"

The lighter half sighed, taking _Gin Hebi _carefully and replacing it into his coat as he spoke; those watching him could see that there was a long, sturdy sheath worked into the insides of the coat, just long enough to hold the stunning cobra blade while still remaining hidden. "I know, I know," he muttered irritably, in response to his yami. "I just get more irritable in a fight, that's all."

"As I well noticed," the Negative spirit muttered dryly. 

Kawari simply rolled his eyes. "Look, can you take over for a while? I need to rest, and that took more out of me than I thought it would."

Kaeru nodded in agreement. "If you want me to," he said simply, "though your fatigue comes from never facing _me _before." This said, in a surprisingly calm manner, the spirit faded away into non existence. A few seconds later, the Millennium Ring on Kawari's chest glowed brightly, and the body swayed slightly before gaining the distinctive features of the yami possessing it.

"Well?" the spirit asked easily, once his control was firmly taken and he had seen his charge to his soul room to rest. "What are you all staring at me for?"

"Erm...well..." Joey muttered, words escaping him as his eyes flickered from the unconscious yami only a few feet away to the far more kinder Kaeru. "Nothing," he finally answered, sighing.

Kaeru shrugged. "If you say so," he said calmly, though he obviously understood the group's uneasiness. Sighing, he turned to Ryou, saying calmly, "you might want to return him to the Ring." He indicated his True self with a slight tone of disgust in his voice.

"What? Oh, right," Ryou murmured softly, jerking out of his thoughts hurriedly. He concentrated, and his own Millennium Ring glowed; Bakura, still unmoving, seemed to fade away, and after several seconds his hikari assured the rest of the group that he was in his soul room. 

There was an uneasy silence that stretched on for some time; finally, however, Kaze cut through the quiet, saying with an air of command, "Very well. Let's get back to our search."

For nearly an hour they did so, broken up into groups of two or three and scouring every inch of the field and the surrounding, fringing forests for some sign that would indicate the Scroll of War. And still, nothing happened, nothing was found. The only think that kept them going was the knowledge that this _had _to be the right field; there was no other option, no other choice.

After another half an hour had pasted, Kawari woke and re-took possession of his body, Kaeru forming a new temporary physical form and walking alongside his aibou calmly. They seemed to be talking about the fight; apparently, Kaeru was the one who had trained his charge in short-blade fighting, and therefore was pointing out different mistakes and complimenting well-executed moves from his quick battle against Bakura. Despite such a talk, however, both continued to look for the Scroll, and both failed miserably in locating it.

Eventually, the group of twelve re-gathered in the center of the field, each muttering their lack of findings dejectedly. None seemed to have any idea as to _how _to find the Scroll, or where it could possibly be in such a huge area. 

After several seconds, in which most of the teens lapsed into silence, thinking, Kawari suddenly spoke. "Wait," he said slowly, stroking his Millennium Ring thoughtfully. "What if we used my Millennium Item--or Ryou's--to seek out another magical item?"

Spattered murmurs of approval fluttered through the group; Kaeru, however, frowned slightly. "I don't think it works that way. The Millennium Ring can locate _other _Millennium Items, but not other magical objects--it's not powerful enough." 

More murmurs passed through the gathering; this time, however, they were unhappy, defeated ones. 

"However..." the Negative tomb robber muttered slowly. He frowned, but then his eyes began to glitter with a thoughtful light. After a few seconds, he turned to Yami, asking calmly, though respectfully, "Pharaoh, may I use your Millennium Puzzle for a few minutes?"

Yami's eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch, but he quickly recovered, staring with his usual emotionless face. After a few seconds of measured silence, he answered slowly, "That is not my choice to make. The Puzzle belongs to Yugi; it is _his _choice, not mine."

Yugi blinked in surprise at the quick exchange of words; it seemed unusual, to hear such a conversation between Yami, the Pharaoh, and the tomb robber he once despised--though the Negative of that thief. It startled him to hear _Bakura,_ albeit the opposite Bakura, asking _respectfully _whether he could use the Puzzle; even more surprising was Yami's reaction--not a sharp "no," but rather, handing the decision to his aibou, trusting him entirely. 

Sighing, the young Hikari looked between the two ancient spirits, frowning softly. Finally, he spoke, his words directed to his darker half. "I know we can trust Kaeru, Yami. He's saved my life before, and he returned the Puzzle to me during that fight against the Swordstalker. We don't have to worry about him making a break for it." He glanced at Kaeru, who had not moved, before asking his own yami, "you don't mind being separated for a few minutes, do you?"

Yami shook his head, though slowly, and watched the Negative spirit out of the corner of his eye, almost suspiciously. Kaeru, seeing the look, quickly explained his reason for the request.

"Rest assured, I have no intention of taking the Puzzle from the two of you. I simply want to use the energies of your Millennium Puzzle to strengthen those of my Ring. That way, the searching abilities of the Ring will be considerably stronger, and I should be able to locate more powerful magical objects _not _related to the Millennium Items."

Yami nodded quickly, suddenly understanding, with his suspicious look vanishing from his face. He disappeared into the Puzzle quickly, and Yugi, after a few seconds, removed the metal chain supporting the Puzzle from around his neck and handed it to Kaeru. 

After a quick nod from Kawari for permission, the ancient tomb robber vanished into his own Item and took possession of his host. He carefully took the Puzzle in one hand, being sure not to disturb any of the pieces making the pyramid-shape, and held his own Ring, still hanging from around his neck, out next to it. He touched the middle pointer of the Ring to the Eye of Horus on the Puzzle, concentrating carefully; after a few seconds, the two auras from the items, a sea-green from the Puzzle and a light blue from the Ring, gently mixed together, forming an aqua sort of color that was almost beautiful. The new aura spread quickly to the other four pointers on the Millennium Ring, making them glow almost eerily and with the polished, worn gold reflecting the deep, pretty color in an interesting looking fashion. Finally, the two right pointers rose, coming together to form a harmless, thin beam of aqua-colored light, which looked much like it could be from a Shadow Battle. The beam sliced through the air easily, coming to rest, much like a laser pointer, at the center of the old weeping willow tree at one end of the field.

Feeling successful, Kaeru quickly returned the Puzzle to Yugi and separated from his own hikari, standing calmly to his charge's right as he observed the spot the Ring had indicated. It had pointed to the weeping willow...

Quite suddenly, the spirit felt an answer hammer into his head, and yelled almost angrily, "Why didn't I see it before?"

"See what?" Mokuba asked, looking confused.

"The last line in the Verse! 'In desperation they bend and cry.' It's talking about the trees, or woodland watchers--and it's talking about a _weeping willow!_"

The others quickly understood, equally feeling annoyed that they hadn't discovered what now seemed like such an obvious answer earlier. They muttered to themselves slowly, but had begun to move off towards the drooping tree, hoping to find the next Scroll quickly.

After several minutes, the group had come to stand at the base of the tree, encircled by it's sagging branches and feathery leaves as they stared at the trunk in confusion. There was nothing there, or at least, nothing that could be seen, so where was the Scroll of War?  
Tristen pointed out an idea eventually. "Hey," he muttered, thinking, "what about checking out where that beam of light indicated first? It was pointing right about _here,_" he added, indicating an area on the trunk by circling it with his hand.

Kaeru, nodding his agreement, moved forward carefully. Being experienced in the field of hidden entrances and disguised switches from his past life as a tomb robber, he knew what to look for, and ran his hands quickly over the bark. After a few moments, his hands encountered a small piece of bark that, though peeling, stuck far too firmly to the tree to be natural. Thinking quickly, the thief pressed it, then stepped back as a soft rumble reached his ears.

The wide trunk of the massive tree shook slightly, it's branches wavering around the teens almost as if it was trying to brush at their hair with abnormally long, soft, feathery fingers. After a few minutes, a section of the tree's trunk pulled backwards, forming a round, hunched doorway. And within the doorway, a dim room became visible, formed from the hollow of the old willow. Glowing slightly within the darkened room was a Scroll, sitting gently on a pedestal within, seemingly untouched by the gloom around it.

Kawari grinned, staring around at the rest of the group eagerly. "Can you believe it? Our second Realm Scroll....the Scroll of War." Still smiling, he stepped forward into the darkened chamber, hand outstretched to remove the Scroll from it's pedestal.

All at once, another huge, terrifying, powerful voice reached their ears. As with the last, it seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, sounding awe-inspiring and strong, yet humble and small at the same time. "_AT LAST, ONE COMES TO SEEK THE SCROLL OF WAR. DOES MANKIND HAVE NEED OF IT ONCE AGAIN?_"

Kawari started slightly at the suddenness of the voice's speech, but quickly replied. "Yes, we do indeed."

"_YES, OF COURSE, LITTLE ONE. BUT YOU MUST EARN THE RIGHT TO TAKE THE SCROLL. WHO SHALL THE CHALLENGERS BE?_"

Blinking, the Negative Ryou quickly recalled the rules that had to be followed in order to obtain the Realm Scrolls. "Challengers? How many are required in order to take this Scroll?"

_"TO FACE THIS CHALLENGE I SET BEFORE YOU, AT LEAST TWO MUST COME. THE LIGHT MUST ENTER. MORE MAY FOLLOW IF THEY WISH, BUT NO MORE THAN FIVE._"

Kawari frowned slightly. "The Light? Oh, as in a Hikari?" 

The voice stayed silent, but the opposite white-haired teen guessed that he had hit the idea right on the mark. Turning, he said calmly, "If we need at least two hikaris to enter, than I'm automatically in this Challenge."

"Why?" Tea asked, frowning slightly.

"Because," Kawari explained easily, "I'm the only Negative Hikari here, and that means I _have _to enter, just to represent my Realm. But who's going with me?"

Yugi stepped forward a pace. "I'm a Hikari, as well, so I'll go to represent the True Realm. That way, we'll have an even amount of Challengers from each Realm, and so our chances at winning will probably be greater."

"That's all well and good," Yami said seriously, "but you're not going into this Challenge alone. I'm coming with you, and I doubt that Kaeru will choose any differently from me." The white-haired spirit nodded his agreement, and Yami continued. "That's four Challengers out of five. Do we have enough?"

Ryou stepped forward quietly. "I'd...I'd be willing to go."

Kaeru, however, stomped on the idea instantly. "No."

"What?" Ryou frowned at the commanding tone in the darker spirit's voice. "Why not?"

The Negative Bakura shrugged. "Let me put it this way," he said evenly. "We have no idea what's in this Challenge yet. If it's anything like the last one, that means there'll be plenty of danger involved. I already have one aibou to look after in there, and protecting him'll be hard enough to manage as it is. If I have _two _to look out for, one or both of you is bound to get hurt. I can't risk it."

Ryou blinked slightly, but nodded. "I understand."

Yami, too, nodded. "I think I'd have to agree with him there. In fact--we four will be the only ones to enter this Challenge. The rest of you can wait; we don't want to risk everybody."

"_ARE YOU READY?_" the voice asked suddenly, crashing into their heads with painful force, and yet feather light at the same time.

"We are," Yugi, Yami, Kaeru, and Kawari replied, each with a face set and determined, ready for anything and everything.

The voice instantly began to speak, adopting the same formal, ritual-like tone that the first voice had. "_YOU SEEK THE SECOND REALM SCROLL OF WAR. WARS ARE CAUSED BY GROWING FEARS AND LASTING TERROR. TO GAIN THE HONOR OF OBTAINING THE SCROLL OF WAR, YOU MUST EACH FACE WHAT YOU FEAR MOST. YOU MAY HELP EACH OTHER AS YOU WISH WITH WHATEVER ABILITIES YOU MAY OWN. BEGIN._"

*****

HCG: ^_^ Heh heh heh, I'm such an evil author, ending the chapter like that. *snickers* 

Bakura: x_X you ARE evil! EEEEEVIIIL!

Kawari: ¬_¬;; Really? How so?

Bakura: _;; NYAH! I DO NOT LOOSE BATTLES! 

Kawari: ^_^ I believe you just did.

Bakura: Don't tempt me or I may have to kill you. _;;

Kawari: *raises eyebrow* *sits in corner and sharpens/cleans _Gin Hebi_*

HCG: Okay, notes-ness!

[1] **Dirk** ~ Okay, I'm aware that some of you are probably not weapons/swords/blades experts, so you probably don't know what a "dirk" actually IS. Well, here's the answer. A dirk is a type of weapon, a bladed sword-like one; it's longer than a knife but shorter than a sword, so it's a "in the middle" kind of blade. It's particularly designed for strong attacks, decent defenses, and lots of speed. Kawari's particular dirk is based off of a Scottish dirk that I saw online; _Gin Hebi _is roughly 21" from pommel to blade tip, while the blade itself is about 14 7/8". That means that it has a wide variety of uses, being small enough to hide but large enough to seriously do some damage--I mean, it's MADE for deadly attacks.

[2] **Reposte **~ This is a fencing term that's actually quite simple to understand. When your opponent attacks you, a reposte is when you parry (or block) their blade and immediately "stick out" your own blade so as to be ready to attack them at any moment. It's a way to ensure that they _don't _attack, but that you yourself can also have a perfect opportunity to get'em, if you want.

[3] **Cadence **~ A fencer's movement. It's steady, without much bobbing up and down, and usually very even. When you walk or move, too, your weight should be evenly distributed. When Bakura was talking about how he could take advantage of Kawari's cadence if it wasn't that good is actually something you do in a regular fencing bout--a fencer with "off" cadence can be thrown off balance and attacked easier.

[4] **Right of Way** ~ Yet another fencing term. The Right of Way is when your blade is extended fully, and it means that you can attack at any point and time and get a point. Right of Way usually means your blade is both extended and on-target, or pointed towards your target, so you just have to lunge forwards and you can nail'em (if they don't fight back). In normal fencing, if you don't have the Right of Way, you can't get a point....but it a battle such as this one, I don't think it matters much, other than you could walk into the other person's blade when they HAVE the RoW (which I've done in bouts, XD)

Okies, now side notes. The name of Kawari's dirk, _Gin Hebi_, is actually Japanese. According to my dictionaries, "Gin" is silver and "Hebi" is snake, so the entire thing means "Silver Snake." An appropriate name, no?  
Also, I apologize to those who _do _know about blade fighting and the like. I myself don't' know much about short-blade fighting, as I've only ever used foils, so I incorporated some long-blade fighting styles into Kawari's attack style simply because I couldn't think of anything else to do. *shrugs apologetically*

And finally...to those of you who are currently goggling at the Kawari/Bakura fight scene and staring at Kawari in particular with shock...well....all I have to say is, what'd you _think _the opposite of Ryou'd be?!

HCG: w00t, notes are done!

Kawari: ......that was weird......*polishes _Gin Hebi _more*

HCG: Okay, I think that's everything...oh, wait...*takes a ticket out of her pocket* Here ya go, Kawari.

Kawari: o_O;; *takes ticket* What is this?

HCG: A free ticket to an African desert of your choice.

Kawari: *blinks* What for?

HCG: Well, you see, after reading this chapter, Bakura fans are going to _hate _you, and Ryou fans (and your own Kawari fans, of course) are going to love you and hug you endlessly. *pointed glare at Aibou and WSJ*

Kawari: o_O; *hurriedly dashes from room, waving ticket madly* Must leave!

HCG: ^_^;; Okay, well.....yeah. Um, I believe that would be it...

Kaze: *pouts* Kawari has his own fans?

HCG: Yeah.

Kaze: *whines*

HCG: Aww, I'm _your _fan! ^_^ 

Kaze: -_-;; Goody

HCG: *blinks suddenly* Oh, hey, people, quick question! Who's your fave Negative Character? I'd love to know; feedback is good, and I'd like to see what character people seem to like the most. I developed a different style for each person, so I'd like to see what "section of how I think" people like. 

And hey, WSJ, here's a random question I came up with when reading your fic and learning about the "aura-less guy." What colors would the auras of my Negative characters be? I mean, at first I thought they'd be the same as the characters in _your _fics, but then again...*grimaces* Kawari doesn't exactly have that "pure heart, shining white aura" thing going for him. 

Kaeru: *laughs*

HCG: Well anyway. Just wondering. *shrugs* Anyway, peoples, review! Now I've become greedy for reviews!.....well, not really, I'll still write for you guys...but reviews are a good ol' kick in the motivation section of me'ol brain. So review, and I'll get started on Chapter 8! WITH THAT CHALLENGE! *insane laughter*


	8. Deadly Gaze of Fear

***Quick author's note. I'm VERY sorry for this chapter coming so incredibly late. During Spring Break, I kicked back and relaxed...unfortunately, my writing skills and ideas thought that the vacation had kept going on into the school days. In short--I was lazy, I didn't have a writer's mood, and I just plain didn't feel like sitting down for a few hours to write out stuff. Again, I'm _very _sorry for making you people wait. You're very patient, and I thank you for that ^_^***

HCG: *eating large chocolate Easter bunnies as she types*

Kaze: Aren't you just a _bit _old for Easter candy?

HCG: You're _never _too old for Easter Candy! Just like you're never too old for Yu-Gi-Oh cards!

Kaiba: o_O;; What makes you say that?

HCG: x_X I'm assuming other people have the same problem...at my school, you're considered rather lame if you tote YGO cards around in your backpack...of course, I don't care, but still, it's annoying.

Yami: (The "Visitor-Of-The-Day" as a gift to Bright Misdreavus) What?! That's terrible! The Heart of the Cards are clouded like that! It's--

HCG: -_-;; Oh, shut up, I don't give a damn. 

Yami: *mutters angrily*

HCG: *turns to Kawari* So, you're back from the desert?

Kawari: Yup. Though I still fear the fangirls....*stares nervously at WSJ and Aibou*

HCG: Oh, they're harmless, really.

Kawari: X_X HARMLESS?! Did you SEE how WSJ reacted to my fight with Bakura?! And Aibou's a hugging maniac!

HCG:.......and your point is...?

Kawari: -_-;;

HCG: *sighs* Anyway. To the polls!

Kaeru: Polls?

HCG: The Favorite Negative Character Polls!

Kaeru: -_-;; Ooh, goody.

HCG: Okay, the Polls stand: Kawari: 2, Kaeru: 2, Saguru: 1, Kaze: 1. I didn't count seconds/runner ups, though several of you did list them. Anyway, it's obvious that you people just plain love Kawari and his yami. They are cool, aren't they? ^_^

Kawari & Kaeru: ¬_¬;;

HCG: In fact, they're _so _cool, I've been looking around for different music that represents them all. I think I've found a "Kawari Theme Song," so if you want to hear it, here you go: Go download/listen to "Bounce" by Bon Jovi. Good song. I love it. *clings to CD Player* I suppose it could represent other characters as well, but I was first drawn to thinking of Kawari when I listened to it. 

Kawari: o_O;; That's not a bad song, actually.

HCG: Anyway. I'll see if I can find other "Theme Songs" for you people to listen to, if you want. In the meantime, on to the replies. Wheee!

****

Silver Fang ~ XD, I didn't even mean for the "tut" pun when I wrote it. I was just trying to make Kawari look like he was humiliating Bakura. YAY FOR HYPERNESS!

****

Magical Mage ~ Your guess was pretty close? That's good. As for the large cast, yeah, I don't really like working with so many people in a fic--you'd notice that "Shadow Turned Light" was a lot closer together, only three or four main characters--but having so many people is necessary for later. Anyway.

****

Bright Misdreavus ~ Boy, have you got guts to say you don't like Kawari when surrounded by his fangirls in the reviewing section o_O;; Very brave of you. Don't like his attitude, hmm? *laughs* I can understand that.

Kawari: _;; I do NOT have an attitude! Take that back!

HCG: -_-;; Great job convincing the reviewer, you moron.

Kawari: Nyah!

****

Wingleader Sora Jade ~ Kawari: O_O;; *backs slowly away from WSJ*

HCG: *reads review again* ^_^ Heh heh heh, I'm HCG-Sama now. *grins*

Kaze: -_-;; Don't let it go to your head.

HCG: _;; Nyah! *calms* Well, anyway. *laughs* You drew the fanart with him fencing? Smart you are! Perhaps you got the clue I gave earlier, when I described his glove, and said it LOOKED like a fencing glove...I was hoping somebody'd pick up on that. Or maybe when Kawari gives Bakura the "Fencing Finger." Hmm...now, what's Kawari's hair like? Well, keep in mind, he's a replica of Ryou, so they'd look identical....although having his hair cut shorter would make sense as well, since Kawari gets into several blade fights in the Opposition, and his hair'd probably get in the way. *shrugs* Either way is fine, I suppose. Oooh, Auras!

Kaeru:.....o_O;; Oh goody, I get to stay blue.  
Yami: Grey-black seems to fit my opposite nicely -_-;;

HCG: I like the idea of Saguru's, bronze colored....makes him sound strong, but since it's darker than "your" Joey's...

Kaze: Hmm, Royal Purple for an aura doesn't seem all that bad...it suits me...

Kawari: *snickers* Well I got the best! Forest green! Nyah nyah!

HCG: ¬_¬;; I don't know what you're bragging about; it's not as if _you _can see them anyway.

Kawari: x_X;; Shut up.

HCG: If I were you, I'd feel cheated anyway. You don't get that super-cool brilliant white aura your telepathic self gets! ^____^

Kawari: _;; So? I can use a dirk and I know at least ten different blade-fighting styles, hundreds of techniques, and the like! He can't....so there! 

HCG: ^_^ Getting defensive? Oh, and as to your final note, nope, Kawari and Amane don't get along. At all. Sibling rivalry, you know...or maybe not rivalry, but you get the idea. I've already got plans for her, I believe, in the story that will _hopefully _follow this one, if all goes right...*grins*

Kawari: _;; _Must _you involve her? The story's so much better with her absence! *gets hit over the head with The Almighty Keyboard and goes quiet*

HCG: Good luck with the new fanart! Kawari and telepath-Ryou, that oughta make a killer piccie ^_^ I'll have to try something of the like myself someday, I like your Telepath Ryou just as much as you like Kawari. 

****

Daricio ~ Okay, you seem a bit surprised at how the Negatives act calm in dangerous situations. Actually, they have a reason for that, not _all _Negatives are calm--Kawari, Kaeru, Kaze, and Saguru, however, are trained in the Opposition, and so they've learned how to take each challenge that awaits them with a straight face and clear mind--they have to, or they'd probably be long dead. Now, as for your question about halfway being opposite, yup, I know what you're talking about, though I couldn't give you an exact answer to your question. I had the same "halfway" problem with Kaiba and Kaze when I was planning the Negative version's personality WAAAAY back in STL. Kaiba's an unusual character, see; he's half good, half bad, though he steers more towards bad. Thus, Kaze'd have to be half good, half bad, though steering more towards good. So, though they still have different goals and ways of acting, they're the most similar opposites out of the rest of the gang. As for the fears that each character'll have, you'll see soon enough. Oh, and Ryou would rather not kick Bakura--

Kawari: ^_^ I WILL!

HCG:....ooookay......go ahead....oh, and you can't blame Yami for being suspicious; I mean, Bakura _did _lock his hikari's soul in a card, and then later on tried to kill him...and Kaeru isn't as trusting of Yami as you'd like to believe, either, though it's again understandable, after seeing what NR Yami did. Anyway. *waves to NR Daricio*

****

Trinity Star ~ OOoh, Serya's trained to fight fangirls? What a dangerous job to take up...*shudders*

Kawari: Yeah, it's almost next to the Opposition in danger and importance.

HCG: *watches the rabid fangirls clutching their pictures of favorite characters* *shudders*

Kawari: If you're not careful, you could end up down there too, HCG...

HCG: I'm not a fangirl!

Kawari: So says the person who caught Kaiba and forced him to be a muse.

HCG: ^_^;; *edges away from pit*

Well anyway, those'd be the general reviews. YAY for reviewers! I can't believe how far you guys have gotten me; I'd be nowhere without you're support. Anyway, I suppose you guys are DYING for Ch. 8 to start up so you can see the fears of your beloved characters!

Kawari: -_-; I HATE my fear.

Kaeru: o_O;; I'm not to fond of mine either.

Yami: I have to agree with you there. 

HCG: *sighs* Fine, well, let's get to the story at least.....the sooner we start, the sooner it's over.  
Kaeru, Kawari, & Yami: YAY!

HCG: *rolls eyes* YAMI! DISCLAIMER!

Yami: o_O;; High Crystal Guardian does not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of it's characters. The Seven Elements belong to Wingleader Sora Jade, though the scrolls they are connected to are HCG's. And the Negative Realm, Negative Characters, and plot involved in this story are HCG's. Do not use without permission.

HCG: Thankies ^_^ To the story!

Notes:

****

Kawari ~ NR Ryou

****

Kaeru ~ NR Bakura

****

Kaze ~ NR Kaiba

****

Saguru ~ NR Joey

/word/ ~ Yugi to Yami

//word// ~ Yami to Yugi

__

Italics are thoughts or dreams/memories

PLEASE don't be confused by the third Fear. The memory is separate from the actual Challengers; therefore, all four in the memory are Negative people. And I realize you don't understand this yet, but you will, I promise. 

Anything else? Anything? Um.....nope, don't think so. Should I randomly fill up this space with talk? *sees reviewers raising dangerous threatening objects* O_O;; Nope, don't think I will! FICCIE!!!

Negative Chaos

Chapter 8: Deadly Gaze of Fear

"_BEGIN._"

As soon as the powerful voice had spoken, darkness seemed to wrap around the four challengers. Sight of their friends was cut off as air solidified and lost color, becoming dim and opaque. The sun's cheerful light disappeared completely, and within seconds Kawari, Yugi, and their yamis were standing in a billowing, pitch-black non-existence. 

"Where are we?" Yugi murmured, jerking his head this way and that, looking for a recognizable landmark. "The Shadow Realm?"

"No," Yami replied softly, eyes narrowing with suspicion. "The Shadow Realm seems to exist, at least. This place is a place of Nothing."

"N..nothing?" the young Hikari tittered nervously, looking over his head slightly as though expecting something familiar to appear suddenly.   
Kawari, too, frowned around at the landscape, looking in particular down at the steady surface they rested on. There was no visible ground or floor, but he could feel his feet on something hard. "Well, no doubt this place is a little bit odd, but what's so scary about it?" 

"No idea." This was Kaeru, who was glancing around rapidly, as though expecting an ambush. "But even if it doesn't seem scary, be wary of it. It is a Challenge, after all, and it won't be easy."

"Yeah," Kawari muttered in an off tone, but Yugi had noticed his eyes narrow quite suddenly as well, and his gloved hand had risen a few inches to his chest, in the direction of his sheathed dirk. 

Without warning, the nothingness around them began to change, becoming solid once again and forming the smallest hints of existence. The change, now having started, soon began to speed up, as though it was being encouraged to work harder. Within moments, the foursome of Challengers were standing in a new set of surroundings, and staring about them in awe.

Yugi knew almost instantly where he was. He could see, quite easily, that he was standing in a long, darkened corridor, the corners and edges of the walls harboring rolling, misty shadows. Staring around, he saw a few more corridors, and noticed with a start that he and his three companions were standing in front of a fork of other hallways. The air above them was thick and smoky, and the Hikari could hardly see a few inches over his head before his sight was shrouded in darkness. The walls, made of a sickly dark yellow stone, were crumbling and broken, and some areas of the walls had completely fallen out to scatter all over the floors. The entire mood presented by the darkened, twisted passageways was one of torment, terror, and hopelessness, and--Yugi bit his lip and glanced at his three companions--he knew exactly who's fear this entire image belonged to. The image of a deathly labyrinth, one that could never be escaped, no matter how hard the lost ones tried.

Kaeru and Kawari, apparently, understood where they were as well, but Yami looked rather confused. "It's a maze. I don't understand; what's going on?"

Yugi groaned. "You'll know in a second," he muttered softly, staring nervously over at one of his Negative companions. 

Kawari had gone completely rigid, unmoving, and his eyes held a wide expression of terror. Slowly, after what had seemed like ages had passed, the opposite Ryou began to shake uncontrollably, terrified and shocked tremors running through him like waves. There was a soft, inaudible sound coming from his throat, almost a moan of pleading, and a small whisper, barely heard, managed to pull it's way out of the teen's mouth, "no..."

"What's happening?" Yami asked, frowning in concern, as his darkened violet eyes focused on the terrified Negative. "Is this his fear?"

"Yes," Yugi muttered softly. "It is. I'll explain in a minute, but please, for once, don't try to help. You'll only make things worse for him."

"How could I do--"

"Stop talking!" The young Hikari shot a nervous look in Kawari's direction; the boy's shaking seemed to have intensified. "He recognizes your voice. Don't talk. Just...just pretend you're not here right now." He looked worried, so Yami sighed and followed his Hikari's instructions, strange as they may have been.

Kaeru was looking worried as well; he had approached his own Light cautiously, frowning. "Kawari?"

The white-haired teen shuddered harder; without warning, he slid backwards and pressed himself into one of the corners of the walls, sliding downwards slightly and putting his full weight on the wall. There was sweat beading on his brow now, sliding down the sides of his face, but not from heat--if anything, it was like standing outside in the snow in this labyrinth, so cold was the atmosphere. Slowly, he drew in a ragged breath, and muttered to that he could just barely be heard. "I don't want to come back here...no...I can't....I _won't...it won't take me again!_" These last words rose to a near shriek, but within seconds his voice had lowered again, and not another clear phrase could be heard. 

Yami frowned, and momentarily forgetting his silence, asked, "What's he talking about?"

The sound of the Pharaoh's voice seemed to throw Kawari into a deeper state of terror. Like a silver flash of lightning, his black-gloved hand darted into the insides of his jacket, returning with _Gin Hebi _clutched tightly in his fist. For all the shaking the Negative did, however, the blade remained quite steady, and Yami had no doubt that the hikari could still use it if he had to--and _would _use it, should he be forced to.

Kaeru's frown deepened. "Kawari...it's _me._ I'm not going to hurt you, remember? I looked for you in here...and I will again. It won't take you again so long as I am here." His words seemed to relax Kawari's guard, for the silvery blade lowered ever so slightly, a sign of acceptance. The tomb robber, relieved that his lighter half had given in so quickly for once, hastily moved forward, wanting to comfort his hikari.

Yami took the chance to speak. Even so, he whispered, not wanting the Negative Ryou to react too strongly. "Will you explain what's going on _now?_"

"Right," Yugi muttered, still looking edgy. "See...remember when I told you that the Ryou in the Negative Realm was locked in his mind for nearly a year and a half?"

Yami frowned. "Yes...you said that _I _caused it, with the Mind Crush technique, did you not?"

"That's exactly right. But when I went into Kawari's mind, to try and free him from that Mind Lost state, his mind was set up like _this_...a crumbling labyrinth that he couldn't escape from. It caused him a lot of pain, mental and physical, to try and escape, and he never succeeded, either, until I came along. You can see how it would be his worst fear..." Yugi shook his head slowly, his voice lowering still further. "Being forced to watch memories of your friends and family dying all around you, getting hurt, and you can't do a God damned thing about it...just watch it over and over...I saw a few of those memories, only a few, but it was enough to _still _give me nightmares."

The Pharaoh's expression instantly took a guilty appearance. He frowned darkly, staring at Kawari with a bit of pity in his eyes, and murmured, "No _wonder _he's afraid of my voice. It was the last thing he heard before all of that....and I caused all of this..."

Yugi nodded, also staring over in Kawari's direction; the hikari was still shaking uncontrollably and didn't seem to be able to focus, despite Kaeru's soothing words. "Exactly."

Yami's expression now changed into one of concern, but quickly twisted into a more thoughtful look. "But," he said, very slowly, as if he wasn't sure, "as long as the group stays together, Kawari's fear should be kept at bay. He wouldn't be alone and without support then."

Halfway through his statement, the walls of the Mind Labyrinth began to rumble, shaking enough to throw Yugi off balance--Yami caught him only a few seconds before his forehead smashed painfully into the rock-strewn floor. Pulling the Hikari upright, the two ran to the Negative pair, the walls around them making a noise rising to a roar, and with one section of wall crashing down where they had stood only moments before. 

"What's going on?!" Yugi yelled over the increasing rumble to the opposite thief. 

"I don't know!" Kaeru hissed back, growling at his uselessness, and trying to regain his balance by pressing against an unsteady wall nearby. It didn't seem to work, especially since he was half-supporting Kawari's dead weight, and the lighter half was swaying in the opposite direction. The ground shook harder, and the tomb robber let out a dismayed yell as his hikari slipped out of his grasp. 

Yami darted forward over the shaking ground quickly, again snatching the falling Light from the air seconds before he hit the stone below. Kawari hadn't seemed to notice; his eyes were clamped tight together, betraying his terror, and his breathing had become harsher, in staggered gasps. Biting his lip until blood flowed freely, the Pharaoh dragged the Negative up by holding onto the back of his dark leather coat and tugging; staggering, Kawari regained footing, eyes now feebly cracking open. 

"Where...where's my yami?" He hissed slowly, standing unsteadily on the shaking ground. 

"This way!" Yami yelled back, darting towards Kaeru--the shaking ground had put several feet in between the two spirits. "Follow me!"

Kawari staggered slightly, apparently not noticing _who _he was following, and took a step forward. He was still shaking uncontrollably with fear, the rumbling stone all around him increasing his terror.

Yugi, meanwhile, had staggered over to one of the more steady walls, placing a hand against it to hold his balance. He had seen something like this before, when traveling through Kawari's mind the last time; the labyrinth had begun to break apart as Kawari had begun to die, and that, too, had been very similar to this earthquake-like occurrence. The entire world seemed like a new Hell now around him; the roar had risen to a painful screech of stone on stone, and brick-sized rocks, some even larger than bricks, were being thrown through the air like missiles, threatening to slam into a person and render them dead. To top that, the shaking had increased, and he and his four companions were now being spread apart more and more. Kaeru and Yami seemed to be on the left side of the corridor, from what he could see; he and Kawari were on the right, with a large space between the darker spirits and themselves.

Too late, Yugi recalled what Yami had said. _As long as the group stays together..._ Too late, he made the connection; that half of the fear Kawari had felt in his torture was caused by his separation from others. 

"Yami! Kaeru!" He roared over the crack and screech of shaking stone. "Come back! Our direction! NOW!"

The Pharaoh stopped, obviously having heard his lighter half. He beckoned to Kaeru, and the two started back towards their lighter halves...

The ground gave an almighty lurch beneath the foursome's feet, and Kaeru and Yami were thrown back brutally, crashing to the stone in what was obviously pain. The next second, in the wide space between the darker and lighter spirits, something began to erupt through the stone. Yugi saw, with shock, that it was a wall, raising high into the air with dust and stone pouring off of it's top. A memory popped into his head at the sight; the memory of his duel, now so long ago, with the Paradox brothers, when they had reshaped their own labyrinth to cut off his and Joey's battle forces. And that was happening now...he was cut off from his Yami, and Kaeru as well.

Kawari's eyes had widened at the sight as well; before Yugi could stop him, he had rushed forward, banging angrily on the wall as if hoping to break it down with his fist. He was yelling the entire time, his voice strained and nervous sounding. "NO! Don't get separated, I won't survive, _don't leave me here! _Please!" His fists hammered on the stone in a stronger effort, but they only came away raw--or, in the glove's case, torn. 

Yugi felt a twinge of pity in his heart, and hastily stepped forward, running to Kawari in hopes of calming the panicking Light. More rumbling reached his ears, and he glanced around, startled to find the entire maze reshaping itself.

"Kawari!" the True Hikari yelled, trying to make his voice heard over the roar of the grinding stone. "Kawari, calm down! You're making this worse for yourself! Try to calm down, this is your fear, it will do whatever you make it do! _Kawari!_" 

It was no use; the Negative seemed to be completely ignoring him, new overwhelming bouts of terror shivering up his spine and causing him to quake in terrified realization of what was happening to him. 

Opening his mouth, Yugi attempted to calm his friend, but he was too late. There was another lurch, the Hikari was thrown backwards violently; with a rumbling screech, another wall reared up between himself and the desperate Negative, cutting each other off from sight. 

Startled, Yugi stared around, still half-sprawled on the floor of the labyrinth from where the last earthquake-like tremor had thrown him. Shakily, he got to his feet, but it was easier now; the rumbling and dangerous movement underfoot was slowing, and coming to a stop quickly. Nevertheless, the Puzzle owner felt a wave of dismay. Kawari was cut off from him and the others, isolated, and completely without aid. It was exactly as it had been when he had been truly Mind Lost; if true panic hadn't set in on the white-haired teen yet, then it would, and he could possibly be forced into sudden and drastic action to try and help himself when, in reality, he would be putting himself in harm's way. 

Growling angrily at the dirty orange-yellow stone between himself and his friend, Yugi sighed again. He knew for a fact that he wasn't getting through, and he had no way to help his friend. _What in the world am I supposed to do?_

Abruptly, a muffled banging was heard on the other side of the wall. Yugi knew instantly that it was Kawari; the boy did indeed seem desperate, his rapid hammering on the solid stone wall growing faster with each passing second. He was yelling, too; yelling words of frustration, anger, and especially terror. "Let me out of here! Please! I don't want to be back here, it hurt too much, I can't take it! Don't put me through this again!" The voice had taken a new edge of panic, and it seemed to choke slightly, as though the speaker had something in their throat that they couldn't get rid of. "_Please! _Let me out, I swear, I won't make it! _Dammit, let me out of here!_"

Yugi bit his lip, a look of strong worry falling over his face and darkening his eyes. He could tell, just from the condition of that voice, that Kawari was about to snap at any moment. _I have to help him. He needs to know he's not alone, or he _won't _make it through this..._

"Kawari!" Yugi yelled over the wall, pressing himself close to the stone block so as to be as close to his friend as possible--it would make him easier to hear. "Kawari, listen carefully! Focus on what I'm saying, okay? Just focus on my voice, that's all you have to do." Silence from the other side of the wall; Yugi took it as both a good and bad side at the same time. He wasn't crying out anymore, but then again, the Hikari had no idea what had happened to him over there either, if anything. He continued anyway. "Good. It's me, Yugi. Now listen. I'm not going to leave at all, no matter what. I know what scared you before was that, in addition to all of this, you had no one to support you, no one to help you through your troubles. So I'm going to make sure I don't leave, okay? I'll stay here and talk to you the entire time. I'm sure our Yamis will come along soon and get you out. Okay? So just calm down, and just focus on my voice." More silence. The Puzzle owner decided to take it as a good omen. 

So it went on for several minutes; Yugi murmured soothingly to the wall, and hopefully his friend on the other side of it, trying to calm him and help him through his fear. There was only silence from the other side, but the Hikari tried to be optimistic and kept talking anyway.

After a little bit of his constant, soothing murmurs, the young Hikari suddenly received a mind link from his darker half. //Yugi?//

Careful to keep his physical body still talking calmly, the Light being replied. /Yami?! What is it?/

//Yugi...me and Kaeru have met up again. We're tracing your magical energies, so hopefully we'll be able to find you two soon.//

/Okay,/ Yugi said, slightly relieved sounding. /But hurry! I got separated from Kawari, and I'm not sure how he's doing...he sounded pretty desperate, and terrified./

//I will make sure to hurry, Aibou. I am just as worried about Kawari as you are, and Kaeru must multiply that feeling tenfold.//

/Right. Good luck./

Yami, from his own section of the re-shaped maze, closed off the mind-link and frowned. His Aibou had said that he'd been cut off from Kawari, which didn't sound particularly good. He himself had been cut off from Kaeru--a wall had appeared between them, rising out of the ground in a torrent of stone and sand, and he had found himself quite suddenly alone in a dead end formed by two newly-created walls. Unsure of what to do, he had started walking off quickly, regaining his balance as the rumbling of the ground died off. He'd taken several wrong turns and met a few more dead ends before he'd met up with Kaeru, who had used his own version of the Millennium Ring to locate the Pharaoh's ghostly Puzzle. 

Now he stood, his new connection with his lighter half just closed, and turned to his companion. "I located him. He and Kawari were together, but..."

"But _what,_ Pharaoh?" Kaeru asked, giving his fellow yami a rather cold stare. "I may respect you more, but you will _not _hide anything about my own Aibou from me."

Yami nodded. "Of course. And I never planned to. The problem is, Kawari has been cut off from Yugi, and my own Aibou is not sure of your Light's condition."

Kaeru frowned. "Then we have to find him quickly. I'm not sure if this fear of his will really effect his mental defenses or not, and I'd rather not find out the hard way. I want to get him out of here as quickly as possible."

Yami nodded in agreement. "But how do we find him?"

Kaeru grasped the leather cord around his neck in reply, indicating the Item that hung from it. "We use the Ring."

Raising the golden, dreamcatcher-like Item, the tomb robber concentrated, closing his eyes momentarily. The Ring began to glow, all five of it's pointers rising to indicate a nearby corridor. Without hesitation, Yami and Kaeru plunged down the waiting hallway, ignoring the stone strewn all over the area as they dashed headlong down it's passages. 

Quite suddenly, and completely at random, the five pointers jerked to the side, indicating a new corridor appearing without warning on their way. Not loosing stride, both darker spirits whirled and ran down the new hallway, faces set and looking grim and determined.

It went on for some time. The running seemed endless, and Yami wondered more than once if the Millennium Ring was faltering, or if the labyrinth was reshaping itself and leading them away from their destination. However, after what seemed like countless millennia, the two spirits rounded the corner and found themselves focusing on Yugi. 

Kaeru dropped the Ring, and it fell back into place against his chest, hanging from it's cord and swinging gently. "Where is he?"

Yugi looked up quickly, noticing them for the first time. He had seemed to be talking soothingly to the wall, and had his ear pressed against it, as if listening for something. As soon as he saw the yami spirits, however, he jumped up and ran to the darker beings, hissing, "He's on the other side of that wall. He hasn't been talking at all, so I'm not sure what's wrong with him, but..." he finished with a nervous shrug and grabbed at Kaeru's sleeve, practically dragging the spirit over to the wall as if ignoring the tomb robber's larger size and weight. 

Kaeru, however, didn't mind the Light at all; on the contrary, he went willingly, moving quickly to the wall. He spoke, raising his voice to it's fullest and speaking clearly and carefully. "Kawari, it's me, your Yami. I'm here, so don't worry; I won't let this damn thing capture your mind ever again."

All at once, the silence on the other side of the wall was shattered. "Yami?!" Kawari yelled, desperation back in his voice. "Ya...mi? Kaeru?" He seemed unsure, and his breath was starting to grow harsher once more.

"Right. Kaeru. Don't worry, you'll be safe, I promise."

Another sound came from the other side of the wall, sounding much like the desperate, rapid pounding that had been used earlier. "Kaeru! God, please, get me out of here!" Again came that tight, choking blur in his voice, the voice that sounded close to whimpering. "I...I can't make it through this again! I can't! Get me out of here, it's like being trapped with Death itself, don't let this happen to me again!" The hammering grew louder, the voice more frantic.

"Kawari," the thief said, slowly, carefully making his voice calm despite his own nervousness. "I need you to answer something for me. Is there a corridor that you can exit from in there?"

"No!" came the hissing, terrified reply. "No! I looked, I swear, it doesn't want to let me out, just like last time...won't let me escape...prisoner in my own mind...God, Yami, _please, _please, just get me the Hell out of here!"

Kaeru cursed in reply. "No way in? But...I can't get him out of there, I have not the magic we need!" He closed his eyes in a sign of defeat, resting his forehead on the dark, looming wall that caused them so much trouble. 

Yami, however, moved forward. "I can help," he said slowly, calmly--his presence almost shone with regal, serene grace, as if he was perfectly free of the terror that surrounded them. 

Perhaps that was what helped Kaeru make his next decision. He looked puzzled, but focused on the ancient Pharaoh's calming, determined eyes, and slowly nodded. "Very well...but," he added, his brown eyes narrowing and becoming sharper than steel, "If you harm him..." he let the threat hang.

"I have my own Aibou, Kaeru," Yami said gently, understandingly. "I know how you feel. I will let nothing happen to Kawari." Kaeru gave a final nod, and seeing this approval, Yami started forward.

Approaching the stunning wall in their path, the Pharaoh bent close to it and said smoothly through the yellowed stone, "Kawari? Can you hear me?"

There was a small hiss of terrified anger from the other side. "What's _he _doing here? Kaeru, you can't be serious...you can't let...let _him _be here..."

Yami continued gently, though he frowned slightly. "Kawari, you are becoming confused through your fear. I know that a version of myself caused you this pain, but that is not me. You know it. Don't let it defeat you like this; don't let yourself become confused. That is what your fear wants." 

Silence, a shuddering breath from the other side, and a mumbled, "I remember...it...it tried to block me...." A new, sharp intake of breath. "Oh, God, it's trying to block me! God, please, somebody, _anybody, _get me out of here...please...._please..._" The desperate tone was back, but Yami nodded quickly, as if satisfied.

"Good. It has not beaten you yet. Now listen, Kawari." More silence; it could only be guessed the teen was indeed listening. "I am going to help you get out of that Hell right here and now. But first, you must do exactly as I say, okay?"

"R...right..."

"Good. I want you to back away, as far away from this wall as you possibly can. I don't want you to get hurt."

There was a quick scuffling sound from the other side of the wall, and then, quite suddenly, "Okay...I'm ready...go, please, please hurry...these shadows, they're so close, they're going to suffocate me soon..._hurry..._"

Yami smiled, a grin that was triumphant looking, but held a vague grim feeling to it, as well. "Good. Be careful, just in case."

With that final warning, his Millennium Puzzle began to glow. The light was golden, shining brightly, cutting through the gloom like a knife through flesh. It grew, and the light was suddenly transferred--it no longer shone around just the Puzzle, but all of the Pharaoh. His eyes were two burning, violet orbs, floating eerily admist the brilliant shine of the Millennium magic. 

Yugi squinted, only just barely able to make out even the most shaky of outlines of his Yami. Behind him, Kaeru squinted as well, shading his eyes with a hand and staring half in shock, half in understanding at his fellow dark spirit.

Yami, now glowing as bright as the Sun, took a graceful step forward, and as soon as he moved, the brilliant color of the light around him changed. Light, sea-green flecks melded themselves almost beautifully with the golden sheen around the yami spirit, sparkling at the tips of the bursting light energy and making for quite a stunning effect. Through it all, his violet eyes observed the wall carefully; he looked as though he was sizing another opponent up before a duel. 

Moving suddenly, the ancient Pharaoh placed his hand gently against the yellowed stone wall in front of him. As his hand pressed up against cold rock, the sparkling sea-green flecks seemed to flicker off from around his hand, bouncing off of the wall and leaving little scratches where they had touched. The wall, however, did not move, and nothing happened. 

Closing his eyes carefully, the brilliantly violet orbs vanishing from sight, Yami concentrated, working his magic together to be able to perform his task. Around him, the light energy faded from golden shine fully into the light-green color. Snapping his eyes open quickly, the ancient spirit suddenly jerked his hand forward, pushing against the wall as if he were trying to push _through _it instead. 

The wall shattered into a thousand tiny stone bits and pieces, some of the broken rocks clattering inwards in a fury, others exploding outwards, and even more falling to the ground where they had once stood and not moving again. Yami seemed unaffected by the rocky debris falling all around him--he still stood where he had been only a few seconds earlier, hand still outstretched and touching where the wall had been moments before. Kaeru and Yugi, however, had been forced to dive downwards to avoid being hit. 

When the last bit of debris cracked to the stone ground, Kaeru stood up, briefly helping Yugi to his feet as well. He frowned, staring in the direction of where a wall had once stood--and gasped.

Kawari stood in front of them as the dust cleared, still within the closed-off section of the labyrinth, but now without the wall blocking him. He seemed shocked, and still scared, though not nearly as much. He looked ragged, and was still shaking hard, but he was staring around at the threesome he faced. His eyes ran over Yugi, then Kaeru, and finally settled, with a start, on Yami.

The Pharaoh realized that he had still kept the golden-green magical energies around him, and hastily dispelled their presence within him, returning them to the Puzzle. He knew he had looked dangerous, powerful, capable of anything, and that wasn't how he wanted to appear to a person who's fear was caused by a version of himself. 

He did, however, keep the Puzzle glowing, shining like a beacon in the darkness. Yugi's was glowing now as well, and Kaeru, sensing their idea, soon followed, the Millennium Ring flaring to life within moments. The three Items shone like fire, and Kawari suddenly stumbled towards them, focusing on the light as if he would never tear his eyes from it. A light to shine the way, something he needed, something to eternally bring him out of this Hell, to lead him into the light he so desperately needed.

All at once, he reached his three companions, staring around at each of them in relieved thanks. Words could not express his gratitude; his friends, right then, had brought him out of something he had thought impossible to escape, and he was eternally thankful. 

"Are you okay?" Kaeru asked, focusing carefully on his lighter half. 

"Y...yeah," Kawari said slowly, eyes still wide, but feeling considerably safer. His Yami nearby, one of his best friends as well, and....

Turning suddenly, Kawari strode to the nearby Pharaoh, eyes perfectly serious. He was still shaking as he moved, and sweat still slid down the sides of his face, but it seemed more like after-effects now, something that happened when you knew you had survived and felt suddenly full of excitement, terror, and surprise at the same time. Slowly, he spoke, and his voice shook, too, though not as much as it had earlier. "Thank you."

"What?" Yami frowned slightly, looking confused.

"Thank you," Kawari repeated, sounding as if he meant it. "All of you helped, but...I want to thank you the most. You were the one that really and truly got me out of that Hellhole...even when I looked at you as a traitor. So...thank you."

Yami blinked for a second, looking rather surprised, but abruptly broke into a small grin. "Of course. I would hope that this would erase any mistrust you two may have of me?" he added, giving Kaeru a quick look. 

Kaeru nodded at the same time his hikari did. "It does. I, for one, have completely forgotten my mistrust of you in this Realm. I can see you as a true ally now." He grinned slightly. "Though it does seem rather absurd. Tomb robbers and Pharaohs do not generally get along."

Yami gave a small laugh, despite their surroundings, as Kawari returned to his yami's side, his shaking almost gone now. "Then again, Kaeru, this is a new age, and new ideas may be accepted."

Just as the Pharaoh finished speaking, their surroundings seemed to fade away, disappearing as a new place began to form. Yellow stone melted to form dark, rolling shadows and pulsing darkness, a place where no landmarks could be seen, a place of living pitch-black nothing.

Kaeru frowned. "The next fear."

Yami nodded his agreement, suddenly becoming serious once more. "Indeed. And it is in the Shadow Realm. Or at least a mockery of it."

Kawari blinked and looked around, his gloved hand raising to his chest and _Gin Hebi_'s hilt again. Somehow, in his own fear, he'd managed to place the blade in it's sheath, but now he looked as if he was ready to use it again. He looked far better now that he had passed his own fear, but he was still unusually pale, and his face seemed drawn, while his eyes had hardened to near-perfect imitations of Kaeru's. 

Yugi, meanwhile, was looking at himself. He remembered being hit with a piece of debris in the last fear, causing a shallow--but painful--cut up his arm. He stared in surprise at his now perfectly healed arm, shocked. After a few seconds, he came to a sudden realization. "Oh...after each fear, it heals us!"

It was indeed true. Kawari's hands, once raw and bloodied from pounding on rough stone, were how completely healed again, and the torn right-hand glove was once again whole, unfrayed. Several cuts and scrapes possessed by the two Yami spirits had also disappeared. The only thing that seemed to have remained with the Challengers was their fatigue; they were still tired, panting slightly from the effort of the first task, and staring around warily, unsure what to do. 

Yugi glanced around the mockery of the Shadow Realm in confusion, frowning slightly as nothing happened. Finally, after several moments, he said slowly, "Well, I know this isn't my fear...or at least, not one that I know about consciously."

"We've already been through mine," Kawari muttered, his sharp eyes flickering around to stare at each rolling shadow nearby, as if expecting something to be crouching behind them, waiting to attack. "So this must belong to one of the two yamis." He frowned slightly as well, his jaw tightening, eyes narrowing slowly. He was still shaken from his own fear, but was recovering quickly, from the determined look that filled his face.

The Negative Ryou had hardly finished talking when something shot out of the darkness ahead of them, moving so fast the shadows whipped away as if hit, the air whistling as something cleaved it in half. The foursome had only a few seconds to notice that the mysterious attacker was formed of many thick, shadowy tendrils before they had closed in completely.

With a whip-like crack, the rope-like shadows snapped around Yugi, restraining him completely before he even had a chance to cry out. The tendrils curled around his wrists and up his arms, pinning them to his sides as his torso was wrapped up as well. His legs and ankles were caught just as quickly, cutting off his chance to run and flee, while a particularly thick tentacle-like restraint slipped around his neck swiftly, considerably lowering his oxygen intake and making him gasp for breath. It all happened within seconds; only a few moments after the Hikari was caught, the solid shadow tendrils lifted him clean up, dragging him further into the Realm. 

Yami let out a yelp of shocked anger. "What?! Yugi!" Startled, he stared in the direction his charge was being dragged; unbelievably, the tendrils were drawing him closer to their point of origin. 

The Pharaoh wrinkled his nose in disgust at the creature those tendrils were attached to; it was almost like a mound of dark, misty, cloud-like shadows, the tip of the mound stretching far above their heads. Not surprisingly, the creature had no visible head of it's own, but was instead covered on practically every square inch with long, solid shadow tentacles that whipped and snapped dangerously. 

"There must be over a hundred of those things!" Kaeru hissed, staring in surprise at the tendrils that were constantly moving. He, too, seemed disgusted with the creature; it was now drawing Yugi's captured form closer, wrapping more tendrils around the teen until he was hardly recognizable admist the knot of shadows and curling, thick whips. "Who's fear is this?!"

"Mine," Yami growled in reply, his eyes never leaving the captured form of his Aibou. "I...I fear letting my Hikari down...loosing him."

Kaeru nodded. "Understandable," he muttered slowly, thinking, and staring with a keen eye at the mound-like creature. "Now how do we pass your fear? This is going to take some careful planning, or it could harm us, too."

"To Hell with that!" Yami hissed, darting forward. His heeled boots dug into the shadowed ground and pushed him forward, and he hastily brushed his golden, spider-like bangs out of his eyes, showing his determined, violet orbs. 

Without warning, the writhing mass of dark tentacles twitched, and with another whip-like crack, one of the tendrils lashed out. It caught the Pharaoh on the side of his face, narrowly missing his left eye and leaving him with a bloody cut down his cheek. Startled, he reeled back, gasping, and came to stand next to Kawari and Kaeru.

"I thought so," muttered Kaeru, frowning. "If we go into it's territory, it'll attack."

Yami growled angrily. "I'll find a way through. I swear I will!" Before they could stop him, he had dashed forward again, zig-zagging frantically in hopes of dodging the writhing tentacles.

It didn't work. One tendril reached out and lashed him across his torso, cutting clean through his dark black shirt and smearing blood on it, while a second slashed at his shoulder blades. Hissing in pain, the ancient Pharaoh staggered backwards, now bleeding rapidly. 

"No!" He hissed, moving forward again. He didn't even get another pace; another tendril had cut him across the jaw within seconds. Involuntary tears sprang into his eyes from the stinging, biting pain, but he ignored it. "No! Yugi!"

Still unwilling to admit defeat, he dashed forward yet again. Like lighting, a particularly thick solid-shadow tendril slid out of the gloom, rising high before lashing outward like a blacksnake whip directly at the Pharaoh's head. The ancient spirit prepared for the painful blow, but before the tendril ever reached him, something else shot out in front of his face. The tentacle-like limb came lashing down on the object instead, and it's momentum carried it onward, snapping around the block in a blur and coiling there, unmoving. 

Yami, startled, followed the something to where it had come from. He was surprised to find that it was Kaeru's arm, and that the tomb robber was standing to the side and a little ways ahead of him. 

"It's not wise to attack a Pharaoh," the Negative spirit hissed, clamping his hand around the tendril and curling his arm upward to hold it in place as the limb tried to untangle itself from it's capturer and squirm free. 

"Kaeru!" the ancient ruler yelped, surprised, but deeply grateful.

The thief nodded in reply. "Keep going," he hissed, snatching another shadowy tendril out of the air as it tried to attack the Pharaoh, ignoring the stinging cut it created as it slashed into the palm of his hand. "Get Yugi."

Kawari slipped up gracefully behind his yami, _Gin Hebi _bared and shining silver admist the gloom. Seeing the silver blade, Kaeru hissed, "Kawari, you go with him. You've got the blade, you can do more defensive maneuvers."

The Negative Ryou nodded quickly. "Righto," he said, his voice surprisingly calm, before shooting up next to the Pharaoh, determined look on his face.

Frowning slightly, Yami stepped forward, moving deeper into the writhing mass of shadowy tendrils. Kawari slid next to him, seeming more than ever like liquid steel as he moved between the dangerous masses around him. 

At first, it seemed as if the two were being left alone. No more whip-like tentacles attacked, and the two were able to slip safely enough between the moving limbs. After a few moments, however, it all changed. With a deafening crack, a tendril descended on them, moving so fast it could hardly be seen. Kawari, however, reacted with perfect timing; as the tendril neared them, he lashed outwards, severing the tentacle cleanly in two and dropping the limb harmlessly to the ground.

Yami looked surprised. "You really are skilled with that blade!" he yelled. His voice could barely be heard, to his surprise; though there was hardly any noise in the Shadow Realm, the creature seemed to create sounds powerful enough to rip at the Challengers' ears, to deafen them.

"That's what happens with a tomb robber for a yami and six years of experience!" Kawari roared back, slicing two more tendrils cleanly out of the way and temporarily clearing their path. There was a look of fierce determination in his eyes, along with a sense of perfect concentration about his movements. 

They continued on for what seemed like hours, but was hardly ten minutes. Kawari moved like silver and black lightning, like white death, whirling and slicing in a deadly dance and skillfully cutting the attacking tendrils to ribbons. Even so, there was no denying the wounds that both of them had taken; all over the both of them were long, thin, deep lashes caused by the attacking tendrils. Yami frowned to himself, wanting to help the Hikari battle their way through this writhing maze, but the Negative had insisted that he save his energy to get through the final round of his fear. So, feeling nearly useless, Yami darted behind the pain-dealing teen, depending entirely on the opposite Ryou to carve their path to the mound-like center. 

The journey was starting to get slower now, their advance more sluggish. They were reaching the origins of the whip-like limbs, and everything was starting to get closer together, making it harder to move. After several moments, their advance halted entirely.

"Go, now!" Kawari hissed, slicing another tendril quickly before it had a chance to slash at his neck and throat. "Find Yugi and get him out of here! I can fight off these here, distract them, keep them off of you. Go quick!"

Nodding, the spirit departed quickly, darting among the twisting tentacles towards the mound. _He's an experienced fighter, from the Opposition itself, _he told himself, trying to swallow the uneasy feeling that he had just abandoned a Hikari. Turning to look over his head, he had a quick image of Kawari skewering another limb while a second wrapped around his free arm, trying to restrain him.

Returning quickly to the matter at hand, the Pharaoh leaped over the base of one of the many tendrils and stared up at the mound. He was there, and furthermore, he could see his own charge, wrapped tight in gathering tendrils and held high above the fray of the main tentacle mass, close to the mound itself.

Growling, Yami leaped forward, clambering onto one of the many tendril bases and staring upwards at the mound. Quickly, he began to climb, using the bases of the whip-like limbs as branches on which to stand or hang onto. _Just like climbing a tree. A moving tree in a hurricane, anyway...._

He went on for ages, forcing himself to keep going, knowing only that he had to rescue his Hikari and nothing more. Without even thinking about it, the Millennium Puzzle flared into life again, shining brightly against the shadowy mound, like one lone star in a land of lost darkness. 

And then, quite suddenly, he was there. Yugi was only a few feet away, trying to fight his way out of the mass of tentacles wrapped tightly around him, holding him with an unshakable grip. Eyes alight with determination, Yami reached out, careful to keep his second hand wrapped around the base of a tentacle for support to keep from falling...and found that he didn't know how to _free _his charge.

Cursing deeply in Egyptian, Yami found himself quite suddenly reaching out to the magic in the Puzzle. He sorted it's many abilities into it's little bright-line spectrum, each ability taking a different form of colored light. His mind brushed over the magic that each different colored energy held; most he had no idea of, as to what they did. Only a few he knew for certain.

_Please,_ he prayed silently, almost to the Puzzle itself. _Please, I know I don't know all of the magic you possess, and perhaps I'm not meant to at the moment, but please...just give me some way, any way, to save my Hikari._

The Millennium Puzzle seemed to glow burningly bright in reply, and the gold grew hot against his chest. For a moment he wondered what was happening; then, quite suddenly, something formed in the air in front of him.

At first, it seemed like a crystal, glowing brightly and shining with the same light as his Puzzle did. As he watched, however, the crystal grew, forming into a distinct shape, getting longer, sharper...and quite suddenly, Yami found himself staring at a blade, a scimitar, formed out of pure light energy, with a fragile-looking crystal hilt. It was anything but fragile, however; the Light Sword emitted a sense of startling power. 

Thanking every single Higher Deity he could think of, Yami reached out, snatching the sword from the air and holding it carefully. It had a beautiful balance, and even he, a person who had not held such a blade in more than five thousand years, felt perfectly comfortable with it.

With a mighty roar, Yami slashed outward, and the shadows seemed to split in two around the solid light blade as it cleaved them perfectly. The tendrils wrapped tightly around Yugi gave out a small screech as they were sliced cleanly, snapping and freeing the young Hikari in a single moment. Without waiting, Yami turned and reared the Light Blade back, not even noticing as the light reshaped itself from curved scimitar to long, pointed rapier. With another growl, the Pharaoh plunged the Light Blade deep into the mound-like creature. 

There was a mighty scream as the mound writhed, shaking uncontrollably, as though in an earthquake. The tendrils attached to it snapped and cracked, reacting violently to the pain caused to it's origins and protesting in it's last throes. 

And then, quite suddenly, it had disappeared, melting away into nothingness. The tendrils, with one last crack, melted away as well, removing the threat of the odd yet dangerous creature from the Realm.

Yami's first thought was relief; his charge was safe, and his fear destroyed. His thoughts were soon overrun, however, as panic set in; with the creature destroyed, he was now a good twenty feet in the air without support, his Hikari only a foot or so below him and a bit to the right.

Both hovering figures had only a few seconds to glance around at the misty, darkened ground below them; they could make out Kawari and Kaeru, only a few feet apart, staring up at them in surprise, and a bit of worry as well. Then, in near slow motion, the two began to plummet towards the ground....

...and landed on soft, warm Egyptian sand with a _thump_, their impact considerably less painful than it would have been a second before. 

Yugi coughed, spitting out a mouthful of grainy sand as he sat up, brushing more of the dirt out of his hair and bangs. "What in the world?"

Kawari frowned. "Another switch from one fear to the other. I guess we passed Yami's fear, then." He looked down at himself slowly, then added almost casually, "And I think we've been healed again, too."

It was true enough; the cuts along Yami's face, torso, and arms had disappeared, as had Kawari's and Kaeru's. Yugi, surprisingly, had not suffered many cuts, though he had felt hints of suffocation while wrapped up by the tendrils--though that was long gone, now, as well.

Sighing, Yami looked at their latest surroundings, trying to orient himself and be aware of what could possibly happen. There wasn't much to see; for the most part, it was a vast sea of sand, with the tips of a few pyramids off in the distance. Frowning, he came to a quick resolution. _This has to be either Kaeru's or Yugi's fear. Myself and Kawari have already been through ours. But...which one?_

As if hearing his thoughts, Kaeru answered the question. With a distinct hardness in his voice, as if preparing for something, the tomb robber muttered, "Ah...my fear."

Yami frowned. "Yours? But what is it, then?"

Turning one dark brown eye on the speaker, the thief replied, a note of tension in his voice now, the only thing that betrayed his slight nervousness. "I am burdened to fear for the sake of the world. And I fear that I shall let it down."

Yugi turned a confused glance in Kaeru's direction. "What do you mean by _that? _And what does it have to do with Egypt, anyway?"

The ancient Ring spirit sighed. "You'll see soon enough, I'm guessing." Not saying anything else, the thief began striding forward, walking casually over the sand and heading in the direction of the pyramids. Kawari, eyes flickering constantly over the glittering sand in search of something threatening, followed, _Gin Hebi _in hand. 

"Where are we going?" Yami asked, staring off in the direction of the stone tombs in slight confusion.

"To where my fear takes place. And you can put that away, Aibou," the spirit added to his hikari, indicating _Gin Hebi's _shining blade. Frowning in doubt, Kawari sheathed the blade in it's hidden place within his coat and took a few extra steps to stand next to his yami, still looking uncertain. Still looking as if they didn't understand, Yami and his Light followed in the white-haired duo's paths, not speaking. 

They had gone on for several minutes, close to a half an hour, when they found themselves quite close to the pyramids that had seemed dots on the horizon only a little while ago. They looked far larger at this distance than before, towering above the foursome and casting them all into shadow, yet none of them (with the exception of Yugi) seemed to notice the stone monuments. In fact, Kaeru was standing at three other figures within the shadow of the closest pyramid, frowning slightly. Abruptly, as if making a decision, he turned, grasped his hikari's wrist, and pulled him behind a large dune of sand, beckoning for Yugi and Yami to follow. 

They did, unquestionably, yet they still looked confused. "What's going on?" Yugi voiced.

Kaeru nodded his head in the direction of the three figures. "_That's _what. My fear. We don't want to be seen _just _yet."

Yami, narrowing his eyes suspiciously, clambered up higher on the huge dune and peeked over the tip, trying to stay as unnoticed as possible. He scanned the area for the figures that Kaeru spoke of, spotted them, and set to observing them...and gasped. 

The first figure he spotted was a female, tall and looking distinctly regal. Long black hair, waist-length, was held back by a golden band that circled her head and suspended a light-catching jewel on her forehead. Her skin was dark, making her bright-colored eyes stand out rather startlingly. Her dress was plain and simple, yet somehow seemed to intensify her intelligent appearance. What was most recognizable on her figure, however, was the slim golden necklace fastened tightly, like a choker, around her neck, the Egyptian eye symbol on it's front very obvious. Isis Ishtar, without a doubt. 

Her presence made the figure standing next to her easier to identify, though at first it shocked him--the two normally didn't seem to get along, and at the beginning of Battle City had been against each other. The figure's dark Egyptian tan contrasted with his light-colored, blonde-white hair, but as with Isis, it made his brilliant lavender eyes stand out. A white, sleeveless shirt with golden chains, black pants, and black boots were familiar as well, and the golden bands around his forearms, neck, and upper arms were unmistakable. Added to the golden rod clutched tightly in his right hand, Egyptian eye flanked by wing-like, sharp spires at it's tip, the figure was far too easily to recognize--Malik Ishtar, looking quite serious and as if he meant business.

The most shocking figure, however, was next to Malik, cold brown eyes very calculating. White, devil-horned hair, a Millennium Ring, and dark clothes pointed him out almost instantly--another Kareu. 

Startled, Yami glanced between the Kaeru next to him and the one down in the sands next to the Ishtars. His confusion must have registered on his face, because his fellow Challenger next to him said slowly, "My fear is born of a memory that didn't bode very well. It...comes up in my dreams and thoughts often...." he winced slightly, coming to bring his eyes back to the figures across from them. 

"Ah, I understand," the Pharaoh muttered, nodding. "So what shall we do now?"

"Wait," the thief replied. "Wait and watch, and understand." That said, both locked their eyes on the Negative memory beings nearby. 

They had begun to speak, each of the three looking edgy and tense. The memory-Kaeru spoke first, sounding anxious. "We can't let him win this."

"Of course not," Isis replied, though the response sounded more automatic than anything else; she, too, looked distinctly worried about something, and she raised her hand to the Millennium Tauk often, out of habit.

Malik nodded as well, saying nothing, his burning eyes doing it for him. He, too, showed a considerable amount of what could have almost been fear, mixed in with determination; his grip on the Millennium Rod tightened further, knuckles white as they clutched at the golden Item. 

"So get your magic ready," Kaeru continued, his eyes flickering around him constantly, as if he was expecting something, "because if we don't prepare, we're not going to live."

Malik's hands were so tightly clamped around the Rod it was a wonder it hadn't snapped in half; Isis was wringing her own hands rapidly, chewing her lip. "We shouldn't be doing this," she muttered, sounding distressed.

Her brother spoke up, narrowing his eyes. "I _would _agree with you, but he's gone too far. We're supposed to serve him, but he's gone to far. It's down to him or life, him or the world. And you know what I'm choosing."

Isis sniffed disdainfully. "You've always been a rebel," she spat, looking annoyed.

Malik gave her a scornful look. "If being a rebel means I'm standing up for millions of lives," he said, growling, "then fine, call me that. I personally don't care. So long as we stop him."

Kaeru looked rather annoyed. "Are you two done yet?" he asked, a dry tone in his voice. "We don't have time for this."

Malik opened his mouth to respond, but before a word could leave his mouth, there was movement from one of the nearby sand dunes. All three Millennium Item holders whirled to face the dune in question, each taking a defensive position without question. At first, however, there was nothing to be seen. Exchanging looks, the threesome slipped out of their defensive stances, though they still had a readiness about them that suggested they were not to be trifled with. Before they could completely calm their senses, however, a figure stepped out behind the dunes.

The figure was one they recognized well, holding a regal stature about himself, yet at the same time, a deadly one, full of darkness and death, terror and pain. His once-violet eyes had darkened to an almost black color, but his most recognizable feature--maroon and black hair, with golden bangs--had undergone no such change. Adorned in dark clothing, and with the Millennium Puzzle hanging from a stout chain around his neck, it was obvious who his identity was immediately. Yami. But not just the spirit of the Puzzle...the Negative version, unhealed, and still full to the brim of the Shadow Madness. 

"I see," the half-spirit hissed calmly, staring at Malik, Isis, and Kaeru with a dark, measuring, insane gaze. "So you are here before myself, are you?"

"Indeed." This was said by the ancient tomb robber opposing him. "We will not let you get the spells you so desire."

"You? Let _me?_" The darkened Pharaoh laughed, a harsh sound that didn't seem to suit him. "As if you can control what I do? Need I remind you what I did to your _aibou_?" Another sickening chuckle, before he grew quite serious again, hands crossed over his chest, just above the Puzzle. "I will make this plain and simple. Let me pass, or force me to give you the consequences."

"I will not." It was not Kaeru that spoke, but Malik. The Egyptian stepped forward, Millennium Rod held at his side as his gaze burned on the Pharaoh. "You have no place here. You will not disturb the tombs. Leave."

The maddened Yami threw back his head and laughed, finding something that only he could see humorous. Undisturbed, Malik held his ground, staring at Yami with something very close to hate.

Finally, the ancient Pharaoh brought his head down, narrowing his eyes as he glared at the Rod's holder. "Malik Ishtar, no? You, the guardian of my tomb. How appropriate." He grinned. "You serve me, as your family has done for generations. Let me pass."

"No," Malik repeated. "_As _the guardian of the tombs, I cannot allow you to go further. Take another step forward, and you will pay."

Yami growled angrily. "What did you say?! Do you know who I _am_?!"

"I do," the Rod holder hissed back slowly. "You _were _the Pharaoh...._now _you are a corrupt tyrant. I _would _have gladly followed your rule, had you not become overtaken by the Madness, but now you are far too unpredictable. You are undeserving of your title." 

This, if possible, angered the crazed spirit further. "How dare you speak to me in such a way!" he roared. "You _will _address me as Pharaoh! I _am _Pharaoh! The title and power of the Pharaoh is _mine!_"

"As it should not be," Malik spat. "Your reign is over, Yami, it ended long ago, and again when the Madness stole your soul. You are listening to me right now. _You cannot pass._"

The rage seemed to vanish from the shadow maddened pharaoh's face instantly, replaced by a dark smile. "Really?" His grin widened. "But I believe I am going to."

Before the others could react, he had started to stride forward, a sneer on his face. The Millennium Puzzle hanging from his neck began to glow, it's light dark and shadowy instead of bright and golden, as it should have been. A tainted Puzzle, one that brought nothing but pain and destruction--one that would bring these same things on the three figures facing it now.

Yami began to speak, his voice low and menacing. "Three Millennium Items against one. A pity, really, but no matter; I know I can defeat all of you without question. And then I will have three more Items to add to my collection." He laughed, a hissing chuckle that brought shivers of terror down his opponent's spines. 

Kaeru stood his ground as the maddened Pharaoh advanced, growling low so that only his companions would hear, "Here we go. Stand fast and fight as hard as you can, or none of us will make it through this."

Isis shifted nervously as the Pharaoh--the one she had sworn to protect, and now disobeyed--approached, stepping closer second by second with that deep, ever-present darkened grin over his features. Blinking, she came to a sudden realization, and turned hurriedly to her brother. "Can't you use the Rod to take control of his mind?"

Malik's hold on his Millennium Item tightened still further, but the Eye symbol did not glow; he hadn't even tried before giving his answer. "No. His mind is too strong; there is a barricade, formed of pure darkness, pure evil...it blocks the effects the Rod has. His mind can resist without question. I can't even grasp hold of a tiny section of his mind; it eludes me entirely."

Kaeru frowned. "That does not bode well for us," he murmured, not breaking his gaze from the advancing Yami.

Isis opened her mouth to answer, but before she had the chance Yami suddenly attacked. The Puzzle glowed with a sickening dark light, and quite suddenly a blast of energy--sea green, the color of the Puzzle's magic, mixed with darkened, black shadow, the residue of the Madness--exploded from the Eye of Horus on it's front. It launched without hesitation at the three Item holders, it's size and sound speaking tenfold about it's massive power. Should it connect with them, they would be obliterated.

The three leaped into action instantly. Isis, jaw now set, eyes firm, raised her hands to the Tauk around her neck. Holding them in a curved position only a few inches in front of the Eye symbol on the item, she closed her eyes, concentrating; the ancient magic within the golden choker set to work, glowing with a silvery light, and only a few seconds later a transparent shield of the same color appeared in front of the threesome. It absorbed the attack sent by Yami, though it bent heavily under the strain, and looked as though it would break within seconds. When the entire blast of tainted magic had faded away, the shield _did _snap, and Isis lowered her hands wearily, looking exhausted and already with faint beads of sweat glistening on her forehead. 

Malik and Kaeru, too, reacted. As Isis defended with her Millennium Tauk, the other two used their own Items, charging a brief surge of magic and firing it in the form of brilliant, colored beams, almost like those within a Shadow Duel. The double attack, each beam of energy coming from different sides, would hopefully throw the Pharaoh off track, only allowing him to defend from one. 

However, it was not so. Malik's dark, crimson-lavender energies suddenly bounded off of a magical shield similar to Isis', but in a deep green-black color instead of silver. It streamed off over the sand, out into the open desert, soon fading out of existence entirely as it's owner could no longer support it. Yami, still grinning sickeningly, stretched out his hand towards Kaeru's deep blue beam, smiling at the tomb robber's surprise as the attack seemed to meld into the Pharaoh's hand and wink out of being. 

"You...you _absorbed _my attack?" Kaeru hissed in dismayed surprise, staring in shock at the Great Leader.

"Indeed," Yami chuckled. "And your power has refueled what I had just lost, defending against the traitor protector." His blackened maroon eyes flickered towards Malik, who growled in anger, before returning almost lazily to Kaeru. "Unfortunately, compared to myself, your magic is hardly anything...and the traitor's energies are considerably less." Another harsh, uneven laugh cracked through the air, before the Pharaoh turned blood-red eyes on them again. "Now we will continue our battle."

The three had hardly any time to react, certainly not enough to counteract with their own magical energies, so quick had the Pharaoh moved. Like black-and-crimson lightning, the ancient spirit leaped forward, roaring as the Millennium Puzzle around his neck blasted new, dangerous energies at his opponents. It lanced towards them, exploding into the sand and scattering it everywhere as a huge _boom_-ing sound wracked at the threesome's ears. Unable to fight the pressure that pressed outward from the impact, the Opposition agents were thrown backwards, rolling over the sand in painful, jagged bounces and finding themselves separated within seconds. 

"And now," Yami continued, his voice silky and calm, a more terrifying sound than his harsh laughter, "now that the team has been split up, I will destroy you all, one by one."

Turning, he paced towards Isis, eyes burning with a fierce, eager light that spoke of murder and blood to feed his thirsty, dead soul as he moved. Isis, now looking nervous, pulled herself to her feet hastily and began to back up, matching the Pharaoh step for step. Her hands raised unconsciously towards the Tauk circling her neck, holding them steady as she prepared to channel the magic within it in self defense.

"Try it, if you want," Yami said, quite calmly, as he noticed her actions. "It makes no difference to me. A challenging hunt is always more interesting, and it makes the kill seem _so _much more like a victory." Another dark chuckle; Isis shuddered involuntarily, wondering what had happened to the _real _Pharaoh she had sworn to serve.

The Great Leader was closing in, now, and the Puzzle around his neck was beginning to glow with that sickening, eerie light once more. Grinning, he opened his mouth to speak--

--And roared with sudden pain, rocking forward and to the side, as something collided with his back in full force.

Whirling, Isis forgotten, Yami's blood-hungry eyes cast around for his attacker. He found it soon enough; Malik was standing several feet away, Millennium Rod raised, and looking equally murderous. Kaeru was several feet to his left, the Ring around his neck also glowing brightly; they had obviously used a joint attack to hit the opposing spirit.

Growling, the Pharaoh made towards the closer of the two, Malik. The traitorous tomb guardian; it boiled his blood just to think of one of his servants doing such a thing, going so deep as betrayal. His eyes flashed his anger; the Puzzle reflected his mood, the darkness in the light growing deeper, looking somehow more surlier.

Malik forced himself to outwardly keep calm; inside, his mind was a screaming wreck, and he wanted desperately to turn tail and run from that dangerous figure approaching him. It was times like these that he feverently wished he had a Yami spirit of his own to take over and deal with his problems for him [1]. 

Nevertheless, he held his ground, not moving an inch as the Pharaoh bore down on him. His sharp lavender eyes met deathly-crimson ones, and he could not prevent the shudder that it caused--the Shadow Madness had created a living nightmare out of a once noble person. Feebly, he forced himself to begin charging his own shadow energies, in hopes of somehow defending himself against the attack he knew he would receive.

Yami was only ten paces away when Kaeru and Isis struck as one again. Both had charged the magical energies to the maximum, and with twin yells of anger and unleashed them in silver-and-blue streams of destruction. Midway through, they had twined together, forming an even stronger attack--the beam lanced into Yami's side, forming a permanent injury that even the ancient ruler could not ignore. 

Yami was no fool, however; his life had been built on strategies and observation, and he could see all too well what these fools were trying to do. They were constantly using diversionary tactics; one would play the bait, drawing Yami out, while the other two would come together and attack him. They hoped to wear him down. Laughing, the pain in his side bringing his Madness to new heights, he planned out his next maneuver. They would not live to see sunset, he would make sure of it.

Turning suddenly, acting as if he had taken Kaeru as his new prey, Yami paced forward, measuring his timing carefully. The Puzzle was already charging up with it's powerful, indestructible energy, though the threesome expected it to be used on the tomb robber...he chuckled to himself again. How very wrong they were. 

Only fifteen or so paces from Kaeru, he suddenly whirled, turning to face one of the figures several yards behind him, even as his magic charged to it's fullest and was released. The magic lanced outward, slicing clean through the air and leaving a stream of shadowy residue behind it, which would slowly fade away into the winds. With a sound like a whip crack, it plunged through the atmosphere, slamming with force into it's prey--Isis. 

The Egyptian let out a scream of pain as she was hit head on; staggering, she fell back into the sand, breathing heavily. The dress she wore, once white and simple, was now ragged, stained red. 

Yami let out another harsh cackle, pacing forward quickly to finish off the kill. He grinned to himself; death to feed those hungry, beautiful shadows within his mind, death to satisfy them, death to strengthen them. And magic, too; the Tauk, magic to strengthen himself, make himself even more invincible.

He was only halfway towards his victim, however, when he heard an angry roar some ways off to his left. Inclining his head ever-so-slightly so as to see the speaker, he was surprised to find Malik Ishtar charging full out towards him.

"Dammit!" The young Egyptian was shouting furiously. "Don't you _dare _touch my sister, you bastard!" 

There as a gritting, slicing sound of steel on gold as a long, sharp dagger was drawn from within the Millennium Rod, and it glittered dangerously within the tomb protector's hand. With another inaudible roar, he increased his speed, drawing the dagger back to slice at his opponent.

He nearly succeeded. Perhaps, had he had more practice and experience with a blade, like Kaeru did, he would have connected, caused some vital injury that would have stopped the Pharaoh in his tracks. It was not so, however; as Malik slashed outward, aiming at the physical spirit's ribs in hopes of grazing them, the ancient ruler calmly sidestepped, allowing Malik to rush harmlessly past him. He wasn't finished, however; as the Rod's owner tottered, unstable, with all his weight thrown forward in his dagger slash, Yami gave him a vicious kick in the ribs, expelling the air from the tomb guardian's lungs in a rush. Groaning, Malik's hold on the dagger lessened considerably. It was all the opening Yami needed; with perfect ease he snatched the weapon from the Rod owner's hand, whirled it, and, face alight with the pleasure of causing pain, plunged the blade deep into Malik's shoulder.

The Egyptian screamed in pain, writhing as he tried to pull himself away from the blade digging into his very bone. Unable to support his weight from the sudden shock of the dagger within him, he sagged, Yami now the only person holding him up. The spirit only grinned cruelly and jerked the dagger farther in, eyes flashing as he listened to another tortured scream wrack the air. Still not finished, he concentrated his magic, and green-black energy, almost like electricity bolts, danced up from his Puzzle and down the blade into Malik's writhing body. The screams quadrupled, the frantic movement from the Egyptian increased, until quite suddenly he was silent, sagging completely. A harsh laugh replaced the shrieks of pain, a laugh that came from Yami, as the ancient ruler wrenched the blade free from Malik's shoulder; now free, the Rod owner's body fell fully to the sand, unmoving and barely breathing. The sand around him was soaked crimson within seconds, the stain spreading outward beneath the crazed Pharaoh's feet. 

Isis, having pulled herself roughly to her feet at her brother's distraction, yelled out in an angry shriek of her own, her face a mix of fury and terrified worry for her younger sibling. Growling, she took a step forward towards the Great Leader, raising her hands to the Tauk around her neck in preparation for an attack, but--

"No! Isis, stay where you are, don't move!" Kaeru shouted across the sand, opposite from the Egyptian woman and glaring with pure hate at Yami. 

Isis looked as if she was about to disobey his command, despite his higher rank in the Opposition; she even responded in a disagreeing, doubtful way. "Why? He just hurt my brother!"

"Isis, it's a trap, look," the tomb robber hissed in reply. "He's trying to draw you in, one on one is easier than two _against _one. Don't let him fool you or he's already gotten you beaten."

The Tauk holder frowned in worry at her brother; though greatly injured, he seemed alive, and his breathing was becoming _slightly _less labored now that the immediate attacks were over. Her gaze turned to Yami, and the spirit's harsh glare stabbed through her like a knife. She could see the trap now; with difficulty and an apologetic glance at her brother, she held her ground, unmoving.

The Pharaoh sighed. "A pity," he murmured, shaking his head. "I was so looking forward to destroying you. You and your brother together; two of a pair, nice and neat. It's more interesting that way." He shrugged. "But no matter. I'll kill you in a minute." Cackling darkly, he bent down to the unconscious body at his feet; Isis stiffened, but the spirit did no more harm to the unmoving Malik, figuring the teen as good as dead. Instead, he pried the Millennium Rod and it's adjoining blade from the Egyptian's hands with a bit of difficulty, snapping the dagger back into place and observing the full Rod with interest. After a few minutes, he sighed and shook his head again, murmuring, "An unworthy weapon. It's power, useless; it's magic, weak and nearly undetectable. Worthless." He tossed the Millennium Rod casually over his shoulder, letting it drop to the ground stained with the life fluids of it's master, and hissed, "I can finish you all easily enough without it."

"As if!" Kaeru roared suddenly. His hands raised, as did the pointers of his Millennium Ring; a deep, dark blue energy began to form once again, growing until it's power was almost unbelievable. Snapping his hands in a quick motion, the energy was suddenly discharged, lancing outward in a punishing blow towards the unprotected back of Yami. 

The Pharaoh didn't even flinch. He turned casually, staring at the beam fast approaching him with what almost seemed like boredom. Grinning suddenly, however, he waved his hand in an easy manner, gesturing to the air in front of him, though for what purpose Kaeru could not guess.

The reason was soon clear, however. As the thief's attack neared the spirit, the air seemed to suddenly rip open, with hundreds of pinpoint-sized gaps splitting the air; from each gap, shadows poured, like little wispy bits of smoke. The darkness within the air whirled sluggishly in front of the Pharaoh, seeming like a translucent fog, hardly looking strong enough to face Kaeru's attack. Yet looks seemed to be deceiving in this case; as the tomb robber's attack collided with the shadowy mist, it rebounded, glancing off of the suddenly fast-moving smoky wisps and rocketing to their side. It collided with the corner of one of the great pyramids, plowing a hole clean through and leaving stone and dust simply obliterated, no longer existing. 

Yami tutted disapprovingly. "Destroying the tombs, now, are you, thief? But it is to be expected of a _tomb robber._" He laughed. "Be grateful for your existence that tomb did not belong to me."

Kaeru growled low, angry at both himself for being so careless for his magic, and at Yami, for causing the destruction of the resting places of some of his people. It was Isis, however, who seemed the most shocked. 

"Oh, no..." she whispered, almost to herself. "We...we have failed...we were supposed to protect the tombs, but we failed..." she blinked as she realized how much her voice seemed to shiver. 

Yami seemed not to notice the gaping hole within part of the pyramid next to him any more. His attention was focused solely on Kaeru, and his dark, sickening grin had widened. "Your power is strong, I will admit...strong for one of your magical capabilities. But compared to me, you are a novice. Pathetic. Perhaps I will be gracious enough to show you what _true _strength is..." his harsh laugh returned. "Ah, yes, yes, I think I will. I think it would be most interesting, don't you?"

Kaeru did not reply, but even if he had wanted to, he would not have had the time. The Eye of Horus on Yami's Millennium Puzzle had already begun to glow, and with an almighty crackling sound, a new beam of pure, green-black energy slashed outward, slamming with full force into the tomb robber's chest. The thief staggered backwards, groaning, but Yami had already charged up another attack, hurling it at his opponent with that same, pleased, sickening grin. It collided as well, sending Kaeru reeling; a third well-placed beam of energy finally had the spirit falling to his knees, gasping for air.

"Bow to me." 

"What?!" Kaeru hissed, his breathing labored, clutching his stomach feebly with one hand. 

"Bow to me," Yami repeated, his tone suddenly quite serious--though his eyes were wild and, for some reason, just as much full of sorrow as hate. "Bow to your Pharaoh, your leader. Bow and show your respect."

"No," the tomb robber hissed, growling, and shoving himself to his feet. "I don't have a master or a leader, and I never will!"

Yami frowned. "You will not bow?"

"No, you bastard," Kaeru hissed, managing to keep the pain he was feeling from expressing itself in his voice. "No, I'll never submit to you."

Yami growled. "Those who do not bow, die," he spat angrily, charging another attack within his Puzzle. With a roar, the attack was released, pelting straight at Kaeru with death singing as it sliced through the air.

A silvery shield abruptly snapped into place in front of the beam of energy, bending with strain as it took some of the attack for it's intended victim. Isis, hands held to the Tauk, labored desperately to hold the shield, sweat already dripping into her eyes from the stress of holding such a small shield against such a big force. Finally, she snapped, unable to take the strain anymore; with a crack, the shield shattered, and the blast roared through, colliding squarely with Kaeru's chest and throwing the tomb robber backwards, hissing his pain. He fell to the sand, unmoving as well, beyond his faint breathing; he was lucky to have even that, and only Isis' shield had saved him. 

The harsh laugh cracked through the air again as Yami turned, facing the last member standing--Isis. Grinning, he stepped forward, hissing, "And the last one of the resistance. You will fall as quickly as the others did, you foolish traitor."

Isis bit her lip at the title the Pharaoh had given her, deciding to ignore it after several seconds. Frowning, she backed up a few paces as the spirit advanced on her, growling softly. On sudden inspiration, she delved into the powers of the Tauk, hoping to somehow force the spirit facing her to relive past memories, to look at times only a few years ago, when he had been sane, not suffering the Madness, to see memories of kindness and friendship. It failed, and she panicked slightly; her brother had been right, in that mind there was a darkness, a void, that swallowed up all mental attacks and rendered them useless. It frightened her. 

Yami was continuing, staring with a dark glare in Isis' direction. "It is no use to try the powers of your Item on me. It is too weak to surpass my power. No, no, you will fall, and I will have several new things that I desire--three new Millennium Items, and several new spells to add to my collection of magical artifacts." He chuckled, a deep sound that sent chills down the Egyptian woman's spine. 

Worried, she quickly went over what little information she had at her disposal. Yami seemed to enjoy attacking in rapid bursts of powerful energy; therefore, she would have to be at the ready to defend against it. Running over the energies left for her to use in her Tauk, however, discouraged her. She would only have enough magical energies left for one strong defensive shield--should she use any more, she would exhaust herself fully, wear herself out, and would be at the mercy of the spirit she faced.

Yami chuckled and quite suddenly struck out with a new force of energy. Isis, yelping slightly in surprise, quickly threw up the one shield she could afford to make. It withstood the attack, though it bent heavily; a dark warning that her energies were almost completely gone. 

The blast recoiled, and Yami stood facing her, looking distinctly annoyed. Isis, her face set with determination, faced him, saying, "What? Can't you face my so-called _weak _shields?"

"Oh, no, I can," he assured her easily, flicking his hand in a casual way. "But you see, I can tell you are much too exhausted to keep on going. I judged you didn't have much energy left; that's why that _last _attack was used simply to burn the remainder of your magic out. Now you're an open target." He grinned, the glowing of the Puzzle accenting his sickening smile. "Good-bye."

Isis had only a few seconds to realize her mistake before the blast hit her full-force in her torso. She was thrown back violently before hitting the ground and rolling a few paces, coming to a quick stop and lying face-down. She, too, was suddenly very still, though her faint rising and falling of her back told any observers that she was still alive, still breathing.

Yami laughed, his harsh voice cracking the air as he stood, quite suddenly, alone on the sand, his only companions three rapidly bleeding, unconscious teens. Giving one last, victorious look around, he easily paced towards one of the tombs, obviously intent on entering and removing several spells that he had spoken of earlier.

Meanwhile, behind the dunes, the four Challengers wore various levels of disbelief and disgust on their faces. None could top Yami's, however; the True Realm Pharaoh, seeing his Negative in action for the first time, was horrified. His own light, maroon eyes flickered over the three bloody, unmoving figures only a few feet away from them, and he shuddered unconsciously. Yugi, too, looked disgusted, and faintly green, but he was more used to what he had seen--he had met the Negative Yami before, and had known what to expect. Kawari, face usually so much like a mask of calm in the face of danger, now looked distinctly worried and surprised; at the time that this had _actually _occurred, he had probably still been Mind Lost, and would not have remembered a thing. 

Kaeru's response, however, was the strangest. He sighed, shook his head angrily, and then chuckled; the sound was not one of humor, however, but was dripping with grim determination and even, surprisingly, a hint of terror. "Ah, so now I must go face my fear, or we shall never escape this Challenge." Standing, he scrambled easily over the sandy dune, and before anyone could stop him, began marching with resolute determination towards the Maddened Yami ahead of him. 

"What does he think he's doing?!" the True Yami hissed, staring in shock after Kaeru's retreating back. "He's a fool! He'll get himself killed! [2]"

Kawari looked very worried now, and frowned after his darker half, but said slowly, "He has to face his own fear. That's what the Challenge is there for."

Kaeru, meanwhile, had reached the open stretch of sand where his memory-self and his two companions still lay, next to the great pyramids. Coming to a halt, he yelled loudly and clearly, "Yami!"

The crazed Pharaoh turned lazily, expecting another simple opposition to be put down without a pause. He stared in surprise, however, on seeing a second Kaeru--his dark eyes flashed angrily and flickered towards the fallen tomb robber, and back to his new opponent, as if double checking to make sure he wasn't seeing things. After a few seconds, he turned slowly and faced the new thief, separated now only by several yards of open sand. "Well? Who would you be?"

Kaeru growled. "You know. You damn well know."

The Negative Yami laughed, raising one eyebrow in annoyance. "You couldn't be the tomb robber. He's over there." He gestured, though it was unnecessary; I blind man could see the fallen, white-haired spirit only feet away without it being indicated. 

"He is, true, but I'm here as well."

"Ah, I see." The ancient ruler nodded as if he understood, though there was a insane, glittering light in his eyes that contradicted his movements. "And why would you be here?"

"Let's just call this a second chance, shall we?" Kaeru hissed, his voice low.

"Indeed, why not? It doesn't matter to me anyway; you'll both be dead soon." A small chuckle filled the air, and the Pharaoh's head lowered in amusement, his golden bangs sliding forward and forming a screen in front of his face as he raised it again. 

The two launched into attack instantly, both leaping forward and firing magical energies from their respected Items at the same time. The forces collided in midair; Kaeru's hesitated for a moment before being cleaved in two, and the thief spirit had to throw himself to the side to avoid being hit. 

From there, it was all downhill for Kaeru. As he dodged to the side, the crazed Yami struck outward again, and again, and again, hitting his opponent with perfect precision and laughing as the tomb robber stumbled. The Ring spirit fought back, managing to even land a few blows on his attacker, but they were far too weak and did almost nothing to gain him an advantage. He was loosing, and he knew it.

The three remaining Challengers in the dunes knew it, as well. Kawari was biting his lip until blood flowed, and his eyes had hardened to the point when it would have been questionable who looked more dangerous, himself or his yami. Yugi was frowning worriedly, unsure of what he could do, and was flinching each time Kaeru took another hit.

Yami, however, was outraged. Several times he had leapt up to dash forward and help, only to have the two hikaris restrain him; he recalled with some anger that he could not fight his opposite and win, and finally settled down, growling fiercely. He was wracking his brains for _some _way that he could help--he felt useless, watching a fellow yami spirit take such a strong beating, even when fighting with all his skill. 

At first, he couldn't come up with anything. Furious, he glared harder at his Negative, willing him to weaken in power, or for Kaeru to gain power in _some _way. It seemed impossible, but then...

Whirling suddenly, he faced Kawari, hissing, "Hold out your Millennium Ring!"

Kawari started in surprise at the darker spirit, frowning. "Why? What good would it do?"

"Just do it!" Yami growled, now fingering his own Puzzle with determination. 

The Negative Ryou sighed before grasping the golden Ring firmly in his gloved hand and holding it out in Yami's direction. Nodding quickly in thanks, Yami held out his own Puzzle, explaining, "I myself would have the power to defeat my Negative, if I _could _fight him. I'm planning on transferring my own magical energies to your Ring, which in turn will go to Kaeru. He'll be able to stand up to that Maddened fool then."

Kawari's eyes widened in sudden understanding. "Of course!" he hissed, holding out the Ring in a more determined manner. "It makes _perfect_ sense. I don't know why we never thought of it before..."

Yami ignored the teen's muttering, grasping hold of one of the pointers of the Ring and placing it at the center of the Eye of Horus on his own Puzzle. The two Items glowed briefly, then slowly began to show signs of change; the Puzzle gained a greenish-gold brilliance, which seemed to flow smoothly over the gold of the Ring, changing quickly to a light blue and fading away. 

Kaeru, fighting desperately but without luck, didn't notice the changes in his magic at first. However, once he began to charge up a feeble counter-attack for his opponent, he suddenly noticed the difference; it seemed more powerful, almost unending in his opinion. Disregarding the reasons for his magic growing so suddenly--it really wasn't important at the moment--he charged up a powerful energy burst and fired it with perfect aim towards his opponent.

The crazed Yami didn't even bother to block as he watched the tomb robber across from him readying his attack--in his opinion, it wasn't even worth the effort, as the thief's attacks had been so pathetically weak. He waited calmly, arms crossed over his chest, and stared at his opponent with perfect ease. And, quite suddenly, regretted it.

The deep blue energy blast collided with full force into the Negative Pharaoh's chest; the spirit staggered back, gasping in surprise, and stared at Kaeru in pure, untamed hate. He pulled himself into a fully upright standing position, and began to pace forward slowly, his eyes full of menace and the threat of death...

...And started in surprise as, quite suddenly, he began to fade away, flickering out of existence in a quick start.

"What just happened?" Yugi asked, startled.

"The fear is defeated," Kawari muttered, sounding very much relieved. "Kaeru knew he could defeat the Great Leader after Yami loaned him his power...it was obvious. He was as good as beaten."

Kaeru, too, seemed to come to the same conclusion; he turned quietly and began pacing towards the dune that his comrades hid behind. At his approach, the others stood, waiting calmly. When the tomb robber reached them after several minutes, he gave Yami a confused glance; he seemed to know what Yami had done for him, and he looked grateful, particularly when the True ruler gave him a friendly smile in return. 

"Thanks," he said calmly, staring Yami straight in the eye. "I needed your help, I'm afraid."

Yugi sighed. "And speaking of fears," he murmured softly, "I guess mine's the only one left. And I think _this _fear has sparked up one of my own..."

Kawari gave him a confused glance. "What do you mean?" he asked quizzically. 

His question was soon answered, however, as the scenery around them changed yet again. Sand rose and formed itself into new shapes, lavish office furniture from the looks of it, while the air closed in around them, solidifying and forming strong walls on all four sides of them. The office, while having been more richly decorated, looked quite normal, but for the single display behind the main desk--a gruesome display of six duel monsters cards, each having been tortured in some way, whether by knives plunged through their illustrations, or rips cutting deeply through the cards.

"Oh..." Kawari hissed, in sudden understanding; Kaeru dropped into a defensive stance almost immediately, Millennium Ring glowing brightly. Yugi nodded grimly and found his eyes being drawn to that frightening card display, suddenly shivering and beginning to sweat. Though all three were healed of any earlier wounds they might have taken, their fatigue still remained, and was evident on their faces, mixed in with worry.

Yami, however, wasn't sure what to expect, and frowned slightly at the wary looks the other three were giving the office. He scrutinized it again, wondering if he had missed something; but no, each bit of furniture, each detail in the room, looked ordinary and harmless, and while that card display on the wall angered him a little, it was nothing dangerous. He opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but stopped suddenly, as something strong wrapped around his neck from behind and tightened. He choked without meaning to and gasped for air, finding his oxygen being cut off and beginning to feel desperate worry in the corner of his mind because of it. 

Yugi, Kawari, and Kaeru, hearing their comrade's gasp for air, whirled around to face Yami...and stared in shock at the figure behind him. It was the Negative Yami once more, but he seemed _new _somehow, different from the last one. The few wounds he had received from Kaeru were gone, and he looked uninjured. Just as strangely, while the Negative tomb robber glared at him in hate, the crazed ruler seemed not to notice him, or even to bear _any _memories whatsoever of their fight only a few minutes ago. Yugi understood, after a moment; _this _was a "new copy" of the Negative Yami, as this was a new fear, and did not bear any resemblance to Kaeru's part of the Challenge. 

The Maddened Pharaoh had his arm wrapped tightly around the True Yami's neck and throat, and held it tight, squeezing roughly on the captive spirit's windpipe so as to lessen air flow to the point of pain. The True Puzzle spirit, meanwhile, was sagging from lack of air and choking himself more without meaning to; he was trying to hold himself up in order to breath easier by wrapping his own hands around his capturer's choking arm and pulling upward slightly, but it seemed about all he could do. 

The Negative Pharaoh, after giving the three figures facing him a quick glance, turned his gaze to his opposite in his grasp, beginning to speak in a silky-slow voice that made him seem terrifying. "You know, I do not approve of traitors. Particularly one that is a reflection of my own self. You _are _me, don't try to deny it, and you will _not _be aiding these Opposition fools." He tightened his grip on Yami's throat, and the True spirit struggled more furiously, still unable to do anything else from his increasing lack of air.

Kawari was shocked, staring across at the cruel Negative ruler and his kinder captive in surprise. Whirling abruptly, he faced Yugi, hissing, "What was your fear?!"

Yugi shuddered, focusing with obvious nervousness as he murmured slowly, "I'm afraid of Yami somehow changing...eventually coming to act like the _Negative _version of himself. I...I didn't want it to happen."

Kaeru hissed in dismay. "I see your point," he growled, staring across at the two versions of the ancient Pharaoh. 

The young Hikari followed his gaze and jerked in terrified surprise. The Negative version of Yami was laughing in a dark, insane manner, crimson-black eyes glittering as an equally dark, shadowy substance uncoiled itself from the Puzzle. It seemed to be seeping out of the Eye of Horus on the Puzzle's front, curling lazily around the Negative's arm and slipping down towards it's new host--Yami. As the Great Leader's laughter increased, the shadows began to delve deep into the True ruler's own Puzzle, as well as plunging into his chest, right at heart level, and his forehead, towards his mind. Even as the shadowy amounts increased, the True Yami's reactions lowered; he was becoming steadily slower, more sluggish, and his eyelids had lowered until they were only half open. His resistance had stopped entirely, and his hands dropped to his sides, until the Negative spirit was the only thing supporting him. 

Kawari understood almost instantly. "He's trying to spread the Shadow Madness," he hissed, even as his eyes narrowed. "But Yugi," he added quickly, "the shadows wouldn't have had time to install themselves firmly into _your _yami's soul, yet. You should be able to get rid of them without trouble, yes?"

Yugi frowned. "M...maybe," he mumbled, still staring in shocked worry towards his sluggishly moving darker half. "But I'd have to get him away from the _Negative _Yami first."

"Leave that to us, Yugi," the opposite Ryou said with a grim smile, even as _Gin Hebi _flashed into his hand again. Beside him, Kaeru nodded in agreement.

"What are you going to--" the young Hikari began, but he was quickly surprised into silence as Kawari leapt forward in a black-and-white speedy blur. 

The Negative Yami was quite pleased with his work, and he glanced down at the unmoving True version of himself with a dark feeling of triumph. The feeling didn't last long, however, for Kawari suddenly lashed into view, slicing out with exact precision towards the Maddened spirit's shoulder. The Negative ruler, startled, leapt backwards in defense, avoiding being cut--but Kawari grinned in satisfaction, for he had achieved his goal. The Great Leader had dropped Yami in his own self-defense.

Yugi darted forward quickly, catching his falling guardian spirit as he fell; gently, he lowered the ancient ruler to the ground, laying him out carefully. 

Kawari moved a few paces to his left, quickly coming to stand between Yugi and his darker half, and the crazed version of Yami. Kaeru slid up gracefully beside him, standing with an image of perfect calm, arms crossed in front of his chest. 

"How much time do you need?" Kawari asked hurriedly, glaring across at the enraged Negative Yami.

"Five minutes, I would think," Yugi hissed quickly back, observing his half-conscious yami spirit with concern.

The Negative Ryou bit his lip in thought. "I think we can buy that much time...right, Kaeru?"

The tomb robber nodded slowly in reply. "Perhaps," he murmured. "Our only problem is that we cannot use energy attacks...it is too dangerous in such a confined space. The Shadow Maddened Yami, however, will not care."

Kawari shrugged. "Doesn't matter. We'll just have to distract him for a long enough period of time." He grinned suddenly. "Hey, I bet I can hit him first."

Kaeru grinned ever so slightly. "Why, was that a challenge?"

"Indeed it was." The Negative teen chuckled. "Five bucks says you loose it. [3]"

"You're on." Kaeru darted forward as soon as he had finished speaking, leaving his hikari behind him as he dashed straight for the Negative Yami. Surprised, the spirit took a hasty step back--and Kawari lashed out from the side, forcing the Great Leader to back up farther. Moving a few paces sideways, Kaeru lashed out with a fearsome punch, while his hikari struck out with another simple blade attack, again forcing the Negative Yami back farther. It was soon obvious to the spirit that they were herding him away from his True self victim, and he growled in anger, beginning to fight back. 

Kawari was the first to take a hit, as a small blast of energy scissored into his side and made him stumble back. The Negative Yami, thinking he had found a way out of his small prison of attackers, had darted forward, only to find his way blocked by Kaeru. Cursing, he was forced to back up a step, and soon took another one as Kawari pulled himself up as well, glaring daggers at the yami spirit and clutching _Gin Hebi _as if he meant to do business with it. 

Growling in hate, the Great Leader realized that there was nothing he could do. If he fought, one would always replace the other; they worked as a perfect team, and had herded him back too far. If he used enough power to destroy both of them at once, he would also destroy the room, and could drop various bits of debris on himself--not a bright plan. Scowling, he hovered back, bringing his attacks to a stop and staring angrily over the shoulders of his two prison guards at his True self and Yugi.

The True Hikari had been busy as Kaeru and Kawari had herded the danger away from him. With the Maddened Yami unable to stop his quick healing process, he hastily placed a hand on his sluggish darker spirit's Millennium Puzzle, concentrating deeply. 

The process was not nearly so violent or loud as it had been in the _real _Negative Realm, when he had fought the _actual _Negative Yami. True, his own darker half did groan and writhe in slight pain, but as the shadows had not had the time to take hold on his soul and burrow into it, the removal of the offending darkness was quite simple. It was done within seconds, and only a few moments later Yugi was helping his guardian spirit sit up, watching with concern as the True Yami hacked and coughed violently. After several more minutes, Yami finally seemed to clear his lungs, breathing deeply as his Hikari supported him gently. 

The Negative Yami, seeing the triumph over the Shadow Madness, hissed angrily. "You won't win forever!" he growled, the Puzzle glowing dangerously. "You won't! No one wins forever!"

Kaeru tensed quickly, expecting attack, but he was surprised when Yami growled low in his throat and backed off slowly. He stepped into the shadows, and they closed around him; his body seemed to fade away, and within seconds he was gone entirely. 

The four Challengers stared around at each other for a minute, looking confused. Yami pulled himself hastily to his feet, and the two white-haired beings came to join them again, standing with a wary stance, unsure of what to do. 

It became obvious within a few seconds, however. As before, the group found themselves enveloped in nothingness, and were standing in that dark, non-existent landscape. No light shone in the gloom, yet they could see perfectly; Kawari, still confused about what he was standing on, as he had been before, tapped experimentally on the surface below him with his foot. On finding nothing, he sighed, sat back on his heels, and crossed his arms over his chest, looking bored. 

The feeling did not last long. That mysterious voice, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once, seemed to fill the gloom around them. It's tone was humble and honest, with a tone of formality, as the last one had been. "_I AM DEFEATED._" Nothing more said, nothing less, just a simple statement.

The foursome blinked in surprise, staring around at each other in shock; had they _really _passed the Challenge? They looked doubtful, but the mistrust faded from their faces as the nothingness around them retreated, and they found themselves quite suddenly standing in front of the hollow oak-tree where they had started.

Kawari squinted at the sudden burst of sunlight shining through the drooping, wilting branches. Shielding his eyes with his gloved hand, he looked around quickly, finding himself facing the remainder of their Scroll-hunting group. He started quickly, having forgotten they were there for the moment, but quickly broke into a grin.

Yugi voiced his fellow hikari's grin in a few simple sentences. "We've done it. We've passed the second Challenge, we've gotten the Scroll of War!" He grinned happily; next to him, Yami wore his smug, triumphant face, usually reserved for winning duels. Kaeru looked as calm as he always had, Kawari nearly copying his serene, casual appearance.

The rest of the group, however, looked at them rather strangely. Mokuba muttered an outright, "They're _crazy!_" while the others turned to their fellow Scroll-hunters and chattered, sending a buzz of conversation into the air.

"What's the matter?" Yami asked, puzzled.

"Well," Saguru muttered, slowly, "you didn't actually _go _anywhere. You've only been standing there for a few seconds; that creepy voice just told you to begin."

"There just wasn't enough _time _for a Challenge," Joey added, nodding and agreeing with his opposite. 

Kaeru raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he asked, looking interested. "In that case...I would guess some of these Challenges are played on the fields of the Mind. It would explain the difference of time--ages can pass in one's mind and hardly could count for seconds in real time." He shrugged, the movement looking quite casual. "Of course, it's only a guess."

"It sure _seems _to make sense, though," Kawari said calmly, even as he turned to face the odd opening within the hollow willow tree. The pedestal within stood calmly, it's Scroll laying innocently on top. Without hesitation, the Negative Ryou stretched out his arm and snatched the Scroll of War from the pedestal, stepping out of the willow tree hurriedly.

Almost as soon as he had left the confines of the tree, questions broke on him, coming from what seemed like each Scroll hunter beyond the Negatives, Yugi, and Yami. "Well? Is there a new clue?"

Kawari, in reply, calmly opened up the Scroll of War and observed it. He couldn't read the symbols on the page, but he supposed it didn't really matter; he had found the prize, a small slip of parchment rolled into the Scroll tightly. He slipped it out carefully, smoothing it with his hand so as to make it easier to read, and handed the newly found Realm Scroll to Kaze. The Negative Seto nodded as he accepted the Scroll and slipped it into another pocket inside his silver-flamed trench coat, next to the first Scroll. 

"Read it! Read it!" Came shouts from seven of the twelve companions, as each person crowded closer. Kawari raised his eyes to silence them, a very effective move within itself, before turning back to the slip of parchment.

"Another riddle, though not as if it wasn't expected," he muttered slowly, reading over the small slip of paper quickly. "Here it is:

For the Third of Scrolls you search,

Hidden safely on unseen perch

Laughter always fills my mind

Calming the soul of the serious kind.

Near the Guardian ever-fair

Passion only will guide you there

Strong will and mind will be your key,

If you have the wish to discover me.

Trouble comes to you where I lay,

Catch me as I run away!"

There was a momentary silence from the group as each contemplated the riddle. Each member of the group began to chatter softly again, muttering parts of the verse over and over, trying to come up with some clue or answer that could give them the location of the next Scroll. 

After several minutes, Mokuba grinned cheerily. "Well," he said quickly, looking excited, "it looks like we've got another difficult riddle on our hands. So let's get cracking and figure it out!"

*****

HCG: *shocked* I actually _finished!_

Kaze: *dryly* What a shocker.

HCG: *whacks him with Almighty Keyboard* You shut up.

Kaze: x_X Yess'm!

Yami: ^________^

HCG: o_O? What's up with you?

Yami: Well, you see...I won again!

HCG:.....okay...

Yami: I'm undefeated! I've never lost, not in tons of duels, plus TWO Challenges! I'm unstoppable! *grins and runs around yelling how great he is*

HCG: ¬_¬;; *siiigh* Okay, notes:

[1] Yes, yes, before any of you yell at me, I _know _about Malik and Yami Malik. Yes, I am aware that there is such a thing as Yami Malik, and no, I wasn't being a fool when I had Malik wishing for a yami of his own. Yami Malik, so I'm told, was formed of sorrow and anger that belonged to Malik--he wasn't an actual spirit from several millennia ago. Since the Malik in _this _story is of the Negative Realm, and things are opposite, NR Malik would obviously not suffer so much pain and sorrow, and therefore that _particular _Yami Malik wouldn't be formed. As the actual opposite--a Yami Malik composed of happiness and calm, friendly emotions--did not seem _particularly _appealing, but more comical than anything else, I simply got rid of him. So. No Yami Malik ^_^

[2] Okay, some of you may have been thinking, "I thought Kaeru and Yami couldn't die?" Since I did point out several times that they were near death in the Challenge. This would normally be true, but since it's a Challenge, whatever happens/happened to their physical bodies there would happen to them in the actual world. A similar question is the "how come Yami and Kaeru never went to their soul rooms?" one. Answer: They couldn't. It was a Challenge; they're required to stay out the entire time and act as actual beings would. Those odd voices don't take the absence of actual bodies as an excuse, you know ^_~

[3]*randomly* I'm aware the Japanese use Yen, so the statement "Five bucks says you loose it" is incorrect, but really, I'm too lazy to do the money translations, so bear with me. *sticks out tongue*

I also had something different planned for Kaeru's fear, but then I realized--poor Malik, he doesn't get any damned parts in my fic ^_^ He only got _mentioned _in my last story _once,_ and here he hadn't come in at all--until now.

NYAH SILVER FANG, I put the "Yami gets puzzled" piece in here too! And I didn't even mean too! XD!

HCG: okies, notes done. And on the side, once again, I'm INCREDIBLY sorry that this took so long to post. And, sadly, it may be a long time before NINE goes up, too...I've got three projects, an essay, and Final Exams to get through in the next month *grumble*

Yami: *still running around yelling how great he is*

HCG: Will you stop?!

Yami: ^____^ NO!

HCG: *growls* Okay, that's it, I'm testing your so-called greatness! I'm challenging you to a game...RIGHT NOW!

Yami: O_O! REALLY?! What one?

HCG: One of my favorites...*drags him off* You'll see next chapter...

Yami: ^_^ I bet I'll beat you!

Kaeru: *sighs and watches HCG leave* She's abandoned her post...*rolls eyes* So me'n Kawari'll just take over.

Kawari: *in corner, sharpening and polishing _Gin Hebi _and not noticing what's going on*

Kaeru:....okay, so just I'll take over. I don't care. *snorts* Anyway. Firstly, review! That's important....HCG KNOWS she'll reach a hundred reviews, and it's all up to you! 100th reviewer gets a prize! And secondly, try and figure out the riddle. There was originally supposed to be more to this chapter, and so the answer woulda been in here too, but the chapter was too long...so now you get to try and solve it! So good luck!

Remember...review and answer riddle! Review and answer riddle! ^_~ See ya!


	9. Race Against the Odds

***Note: Many, many, many apologies for the obscene amount of time it took to get this chapter up. What is it now, one, two months? Ugh *cringes* Well, my only excuse is that I was first trying to write it during 6 projects, my Final Exams, and lots of other stressful school-stuff. Then, I had this chapter written up around the end of June, beginning of July--I was about to post it, but my computer deleted the ENTIRE FILE when it froze. So I've had to re-write the whole thing. I went on vacation for two weeks, too, and since I had no computer/laptop that could be dragged around with me, my writing came to a standstill. Plus, writer's block never really helps, does it? Anyway. Many apologies once again for not updating in some time. Here is this chapter; I've tried to write it as best as possible for you guys, and there should be lots of stuff in it to make up for my lack of writing. Sorry, sorry, sorry!***

*We focus on a card table in the center of the room, at which HCG and Yami are sitting. Kawari, Kaeru, Kaze, and Kaiba (gack! So many K's!) are gathered around it, watching the proceedings with interest. A large Mancala board is set up on the table between Yami and HCG, at which they are playing*

Yami: *gleefully gathers all but seven of the little colorful glass beads in one move* Heh heh heh, I win _again!_

HCG: *sweatdrop* Er...8 out of 15?

Yami: Forget it. Just admit it. I'm the Game King!

HCG: No! 

Yami: Fine, but you have to say it in the near future ^_~

HCG: *whine* How'd I loose at one of my favorite games?! I'm GOOD at this one!

Kaeru: *exasperated sigh* Well, it would help if you chose a game that WASN'T created in Ancient Egypt.

HCG: O_O It was created in EGYPT?! No WONDER you won, Yami, you've been playing for 5000 years!

Yami: Erm....no I haven't? o_O;;;;

HCG: *rolls eyes* Okay, people, for the sake of starting the chapter now, I'm going to move the author's replies to the END of this chapter, okay? I want this section to go by fairly quick so we can get to the story itself. 

Yami: *laughs* You just want to get to the story so you don't have to admit I'm the Game King!

HCG: *growls* We'll see about your title in a minute! I'm challenging you to a NEW game, MY card game!

Yami: *curious* What's your card game?

HCG: A game that's been around for a while now, I'm sure everybody here knows how to play it...*drags Yami off, grasping his wrist* Come on, we'll go get the deck...heh heh heh...

Kaiba: -_-;; She's gone and abandoned her post _again. _Not a very good authoress, hmm?

Kawari: *shrugs* Hey, she's gotten a hundred reviews by now, she must be doing _something _right. 

Kaiba: I suppose. Oh well, I'd better do the disclaimer. HCG does not own Yu-Gi-Oh or it's characters. She doesn't own the Seven Elements either; those are Wingleader Sora Jade's, although the Scrolls they are coupled with are HCG's. Finally, all aspects of the Negative Realm, it's theories, and it's characters belong to HCG, and she would appreciate it if you ASKED her before using them.

Kawari: *reads off a clipboard* Also, special thanks to **Aibou, Daricio, **and **Wingleader Sora Jade,** who were quite sympathetic to HCG's computer problems and cheered her up. WSJ even gave her a kick in the inspiration with a little song fic....*grumble*

Kaze: *rolls eyes* Not your favorite subject?

Kawari: ¬_¬;; Oh, no, I LOVE reading stories about my mind getting tortured. It's my favorite story in the world. 

Kaeru: While we're at it, even if it is a bit late, Wingleader Sora Jade would like to mention we're in her story (which is now finished), _Yamis of Tokyo U: Freshman. _HCG also apologizes for not mentioning this earlier; she will explain later in your response, WSJ. 

Kaiba: If that's all, we'll go on to the final notes. Enjoy the fic!

Notes: 

****

Kawari ~ NR Ryou

****

Kaeru ~ NR Bakura

****

Kaze ~ NR Kaiba

****

Saguru ~ NR Joey

__

italicized words are thoughts or memories/dreams

'word' ~ character to character, via mind link

Anything else? I think that's all. I would annoy you as usual here, but I think we ALL are urgent to get on to the chapter itself, so....*sigh* Enjoy...I hope....

Negative Chaos

Chapter 9: Race Against the Odds

Silence fell for several minutes as all twelve of the Scroll Hunters read, reread, and pondered the newest verse in front of them. It seemed their toughest Challenge yet; they were having trouble even deciding where to begin, let alone deciphering the verse into an understandable location. 

Finally, Joey spoke, frustrated. "It sounds like it's taunting us, not giving a clue, the stupid thing."

"Shut up, Joey," came the reply from at least four people in the group, though with their combined speech, it was difficult to tell exactly who had spoken. Joey gave Kaiba a suspicious glance, but stayed silent soon after. 

"Well," Yugi murmured, after several more minutes had passed, "I suppose we should figure out which Element we're talking about first, right?"

More silence. They were all beginning to hate that absence of sound in the air, but it was not as if they could do much about it. However, after several moments, Kaze said softly, "Passion."

Yami cocked his head quizzically. "How so?"

"It says it in one of the lines. 'Passion only will guide you there.' None of the other Scrolls, with their different Elements, could lead us to the Scroll of _Passion, _so therefore it _has _to be that Element."

The Pharaoh shrugged. "I guess. That leaves us only with the location of the Scroll. Anyone else have any ideas?"

At first, there was no answer, but after a while Saguru muttered, "Well, the seventh and eighth lines are fairly simple. 'Strong Will and mind will be your key, if you have the wish to discover me.' That's just telling us we have to be determined if we're going to get through this Challenge; it's like a giveaway."

"Yeah, but that's not helping us any," Kawari muttered dryly. "We need _location, _that's what's important here."

Sighing, the group lapsed into silence once more, unsure of what to look for in the verse. There were no clear-cut answers here, unlike in the last two; it all seemed to be guesswork this time.

Kaiba, however, was not one to give in so easily. His sharp, computer-like mind was already searching for patterns, tossing away unlikely possibilities and keeping close those ideas that did make sense. Finally, after several minutes, he came to a conclusion, speaking it quickly. 

"Look at the patterns from the last two Challenges."

Frowning, the rest of the group turned towards him. One of them voiced their question. "What do you mean?"

The CEO sighed and patiently explained. "The last two Challenges took place near some natural area--a mountain, and a field. So we're looking for another natural place, which can certainly narrow down our choices."

"It's worth a shot," Kaeru muttered, tapping his foot as he stood by his hikari. 

The group returned to their thoughts, some muttering out loud as they thought, others staying silent, eyes closed as they visualized different areas and tried coupling them to the verse.

Mokuba was muttering the loudest, eyes squeezed shut and tongue stuck out as he thought. " 'Laughter always fills my mind'...'catch me as I run away'...huh, sounds like a stream or something..."

Ryou's eyes shot open, and he glanced at Mokuba in surprise. "Er...say that again?"

Confused, the black-haired boy looked up at the older teen, repeating slowly, "I said I thought it sounded like a stream...."

The True hikari's eyes widened, and a grin abruptly broke over his face. "Mokuba...I think you solved it!"

The others were bringing their attentions to Mokuba and Ryou now, frowns and curious glances dominating their faces. "He solved it? What do you mean?"

Ryou explained quickly. "He said it sounded like a stream. I'd change it to a river, as it's a bigger landmark, and therefore more noticeable."

"But how does it fit the verse?" Yugi asked, still looking slightly confused. 

The white-haired teen explained, grinning with the discovery he and Mokuba had made. "Just listen to the verse. 'Laughter always fills my mind.' Haven't you ever noticed that when a river or stream runs over the rocks, it sounds like it's chuckling? And the last line fits, too: 'Catch me as I run away.' Rivers _run,_ see? It's a play on words."

"Okay," Tea nodded, "that makes sense, so we've got most of this verse solved. But what about the last two lines that we haven't figured out? 'hidden safely on unseen perch,' and 'near the Guardian ever-fair.'"

Tristen spoke up for the first time, muttering slowly, as if he was still rather unsure of what he was saying. "I've been thinking over that 'Guardian' line." On seeing the other's attentive looks, he continued on, his voice gathering more strength. "The words that really triggered my thoughts were 'ever-fair.' The word 'fair' makes you think something pretty, and if we couple it to something natural, like Kaiba said, then it reminds you of flowers or trees; to say they're fair gives you the idea they're in full bloom, right?" The others nodded. Tristen continued on once more. "So to say 'ever-fair' seems to indicate that we're looking for a tree or flower that lasts year-round as a mark for where the Scroll is. I don't know about any flowers that survive year-round around here, but trees..." he cut off as he saw the understanding light in both Kaiba's and Kaze's eyes, and allowed one of them to speak.

"A pine tree," Kaze said simply. "They last year round; when all other trees loose their leaves, the pine tree still keeps it's needles. It's a perfect mark for the Scroll."

Tristen nodded. "Right. Exactly what I was thinking of."

"What about the last line?" Ryou asked, frowning slightly. " 'Hidden safely on unseen perch.' What's it supposed to mean?"

Yami thought carefully before sighing, shaking his head. "I think the answer to _that _is much like that of our dragon, from the first Challenge. We have to wait until we get to the area to figure it out."

"Good enough," said Ryou, shrugging. 

"Okay," Tea said loudly, so that everyone could hear her, "we're looking for a river with a pine tree acting as a mark for the Realm Scroll of Passion. Now the only question is, do we have a location we can go to?"

Nearly everyone turned to Kaiba, who had given the locations of the last two Scrolls. The CEO blinked for a second at the many stares, but then set to work trying to think of a suitable location. After several minutes, he said slowly, "Well, there is one rather large river in the West that comes to mind; we can try that one. If it doesn't reveal the Scroll, there are a few other locations we can try."

"Perfect," Kaze said, nodding at his opposite. "Where is this river? Should we take the helicopters?"

The True Seto shook his head. "I wouldn't bother; there's not a large enough clearing for a good landing, and in any case the river's only an hour's good walk from here. We can get there easily."

"Good, then let's get moving. We want to get there as quickly as possible."

It took only a few minutes to rouse the twelve Scroll-hunters and get them moving, as all of them were excited at the possible discovery of a new Realm Scroll. Kaiba took the lead, being the only person who knew where they were heading to, while the others walked at various speeds and gaits after him. Within a short span of time, most of them had banded into small groups, and were chatting together about more common things, trying to find something to pass the time of the walk until they reached their destination. 

Kaeru and Yami had formed their own group, and were chatting animatedly in Ancient Egyptian, comparing their past lives and exclaiming over the differences that came with separate Realms. Kaze had found the conversation interesting, and eventually ended up joining it, speaking the same ancient language without so much as a hint of difficulty. Kawari hung nearby, and seemed to be able to follow the conversation without too much trouble; seeing this, he was turned to as a translator for the True Realm beings, who were baffled at the complex, ancient sounding language. 

"But how do you know it?" Yugi asked curiously, frowning; Yami had taught him a few words, but he'd discovered the language was far too difficult for him, and had given up.

"It's required, if you're in the Opposition," Kawari said, laughing slightly. "Higher ranking members use it as a code, so that the Hand won't be able to break our messages if they get a hold of them. Of course, some of us are more skilled than others," he added, grinning sheepishly. "My Ancient Egyptian isn't perfect, much to my yami's disapproval."

Hearing this, Kaeru himself gave a disdainful snort and hissed something that sounded rather angry at Kawari; apparently the hikari _had _understood this, because he said in a rather bored manner, "Oh, knock it off, Kaeru, you know insults don't get to me." Kaeru looked annoyed, but turned back to his conversation.

Conversations went on for the hour, until they had finally reached their destination. Some of the travelers flopped down on large rocks or tree roots to sit and rest, while others, such as the Negatives, stood and waited calmly. 

When everyone had caught their breath, they observed their surroundings, quite pleased with the overall appearance. They were standing near the banks of a small river, which had crisp, clean water running and bubbling over rocks and making a chuckling, happy, carefree sound. There were many trees surrounding the river on both sides, the leaves on them already changed to red, gold, orange, and yellow, with many underfoot, having fallen off of their branches. 

"Well?" Saguru asked casually, looking around. "Should we get looking?" 

The others eagerly agreed, and within seconds, they had spread out entirely, searching for the pine tree in question. A few of the more skilled beings even used a few rocks in the river as stepping-stones to move across to the other side, in case the Scroll in question was on the opposite bank.

The problem, however, was that there was more than one pine tree at the sight. The members of the group looked over each one carefully, but it was not until Mokuba had made a discovery that they realized they were on the wrong track. The black-haired boy had found a particularly gigantic pine tree, large enough to make a Blue Eyes White Dragon look small. It towered over the other trees, and there was no mistaking it as a Guardian, due to it's enormous size.

Once the Guardian ever-fair had been found, the Scroll-hunters gathered eagerly around it, scrutinizing every inch of it's surface in the hopes of finding some clue as to where the Scroll of Passion could be found. No evidence presented itself, however, and the searchers were left rather discouraged.

Not made to give up so easily, the Negatives continued searching without pause in the area surrounding the pine tree, hoping to perhaps find a clue there, instead. A few of the True Realm beings half-heartedly joined their search, but most sat at the foot of the gigantic tree, having given up finding the Scroll nearby. 

Tristen was one of these. "Oh, give it up," he said in annoyance to Joey, who was one of the few that was still searching. "It's hopeless, we're not gonna find it."

In response, the brunette was fixed with four harsh, cold stares from the Negative beings. He looked a little startled, and nervous, fidgeting slightly until he finally muttered, "What's wrong?"

"Never say anything is hopeless," Kaze said softly, looking a bit annoyed, but more patient than anything else. 

Tristen looked confused, so Kawari explained. "In our Realm, you always have to have hope. Hope is all that keeps us going, sometimes. It's like a lifeline. When you give up, you die, and that's it. Those that gave up in our Realm have long since passed on due to the tortures that come when you loose hope."

Kaeru nodded solemnly, adding, "It's one of the strongest reasons that keeps the Opposition alive. If we gave it up, all of us would be dead...well, all of us but Kaze."

Tristen blinked in surprise. "I never realized you were so strong on the subject...and why wouldn't Kaze be dead? I thought this Hand of the Shadow hated him."

"They do," Kawari said, his voice and eyes both rather flat, "which is why, if they destroyed the Opposition, they'd take Kaze and keep him alive as a trophy. He'd be a prize to them; it's a way to boast their strength. Of course," he added, his voice still dull and flat, "they can't have him active, because he'd resist, so he'd be a _tortured _trophy."

At this, the Negative Seto gave a small shudder; he was obviously trying to hide his fear of that particular end, but it was easy to see, without a doubt, that he dreaded it.

Tea, desperate to get off the extremely uncomfortable subject, said hastily, "Er, find anything?"

"No," Saguru said, sighing. "I have no idea as to where this Scroll is supposed to be hidden."

Frowning slightly, the brunette girl muttered under her breath before saying slowly, "Maybe we should check out that last line in the Verse?"

"What do you mean?" several voices asked, curious.

"Remember," Tea said, becoming slightly more excited, "how we couldn't figure out that last line, and Yami said it was probably something we had to figure out at the river itself? Maybe we should try to work from that angle now!"

"Worth a shot," Joey said, grinning slightly at the new lead.

"Well," Kaiba said, in his casual, calm voice, "the last line that we had yet to solve was 'Hidden safely on unseen perch.' Any ideas as to what it means?"

The rest of the group had to admit that they were baffled, but none of them were ready to give up. Each of them took to their minds once more, trying to think out what the line might mean, and glancing every so often around the area to see if their ideas matched. 

Eagerly, Mokuba concentrated hard on the little line, before shouting out several minutes later, "On unseen _perch, _it sounds like it's up high then!" Wanting to test his theory, the smaller boy tilted his head back, staring up into the sky and leaning so far over that Kaze had to snatch his wrist and pull him back before he tumbled end over end into the river. 

The others, after several seconds of consideration, decided that this idea did indeed seem to make some sense, although they did not look to the _sky _so much as the branches above their heads. As the search continued on, with several Scroll-hunters volunteering to climb some of the more likely trees to look more closely, none of them noticed that Kaeru and Yami had not joined them.

"Hidden safely," Yami mused, thinking, his violet eyes narrowed in confusion.

"You don't think it could really be one?" Kaeru asked him, frowning.

"An illusion spell? Probably. How else could it be in this area without us seeing it?"

"We're going to have to break it, then, or at least shield it so the effect doesn't work."

"Indeed. Would you be willing to help? I don't think I can block it by myself, with only the Puzzle's magic."

Kaeru grinned. "The Ring would be quite happy to help. It hasn't had much action in a while, what with all the Special Guards in my Realm."

Yami frowned slightly at this comment, thinking briefly of the stories Yugi had told him from his adventures in the Negative Realm, but banished the thoughts quickly. He held out his Millennium Puzzle, a deep, sea-green aura already forming around the golden item and reflecting off it's shining sides. Kaeru did the same, holding out his own Millennium Ring, which had taken on a light blue, flickering glow of magic.

Looking determined, the two touched Items, one of the pointers from the Millennium Ring connecting to the Eye of Horus on the Puzzle's surface. Instantly, both different-colored auras of magic flickered before swarming together, crossing over to the opposite Item, almost as if they were trading magical energy. The colors mixed, light blue fusing with sea green, and within the span of only a few moments, a turquoise color had formed, shining brightly on the owners of the Items' faces.

The others had noticed the unusual show of light and had come to investigate; they realized with a sense of relief that the two yamis had some trick or idea that they were trying, and so they tried to be quieter for the sake of the spirits' benefits. 

The spirits themselves were glowing, now, the fused magical energies having spread out to cover a wider area. The turquoise light flickered faster, more brightly, and suddenly began to spread out further, lifting into the air and sweeping through it in all directions. It covered air, ground, and water all the same, flickering around them until all the Scroll-hunters could see was the bright, bluish-green light and nothing else.

Then, as suddenly as it had come, it had vanished, leaving them standing on the shallow bank of the river in confusion.

At first, they thought nothing had happened, much to Kaeru and Yami's disappointment. However, after several seconds, the group of twelve spotted a--a _something--_floating four feet over the river quite gently.

Curious, the group moved as close as they could without walking into the water itself to observe the unusual object. It looked much like a bubble, but foggy and translucent. Inside, they could see the shape of a Scroll, rotating almost lazily inside it's hold.

"Perfect!" Yami said eagerly, allowing a rare grin to pass over his face. "I thought so...that bubble is an Invisibility Illusion spell...no wonder we couldn't find it at first!"

Mokuba frowned. "But that's almost unfair...I mean, if we didn't have magic, we wouldn't have been able to even _find _the Scroll."

Kaeru laughed. "That's what we're here for."

"Yeah, well," Joey said, moving forward a few paces towards the Scroll of Passion, "We don't have all day, you know. Might as well get the Scroll and get it over with so we can get onto the fourth one...whatever _that _is."

He balanced on the edge of the bank, reaching forward as far as he possibly could in order to try and grab the Scroll. Before his hand even came within a foot of the magical item, however, the now-familiar guardian voice spoke, it's voice terrifyingly loud, yet at the same time, comforting and safe. 

"_AH, AFTER COUNTLESS MILLENIA, THE SCROLL OF PASSION HAS FINALLY BEEN DISCOVERED ONCE AGAIN. HAVE YOU NEED OF IT'S POWERS?_"

Even though he had been expecting the voice, it startled Joey nonetheless; jumping, he stumbled backwards, crashing into Tristen and knocking the both of them to the ground.

"I'll never get used to that," Joey muttered, pulling himself to his feet and extending his hand to his friend to help the brown-haired teen get up. 

Yami, not wanting to keep the powerful, terrifying voice waiting, hastily stepped forward, answering it quickly and respectfully. "We do indeed have need of the Scroll, so that we may stop the Shadow Realm and save our worlds."

It answered in an almost lazy manner, but it's voice was still terrible. "_OF COURSE, OF COURSE. SO YOUNG AND NOBLE, ALL OF YOU...SO WILLING TO DO GOOD WITHOUT PAUSE._"

The pharaoh blinked in surprise. "Young? But I'm--"

It cut into his speech before he had a chance to finish. "_YES, PHARAOH YAMI, FROM YOUR SIMPLE VIEW YOU ARE VERY OLD; BUT COMPARED TO ME, YOU ARE BUT AN INFANT NEXT TO ALL OF MY YEARS._"

"Ah." The ancient ruler suddenly suppressed the urge to bow deeply, having nothing to bow to, but wanting to show that he was indeed trying to be respectful of such a powerful, elderly creature.

The voice laughed; this one seemed more laid-back than the others, more friendly, though it's voice was still powerful and deadly at the same time. "_DO NOT WORRY, PHARAOH, YOU HAVE NOT OFFENDED ME WITH YOUR QUESTION. NOW. WHO SHALL PARTAKE IN THE CHALLENGE FOR THE SCROLL OF PASSION? THREE CHALLENGERS EXACTLY MUST ENTER._"

Feeling slightly grateful, Yami turned to face the rest of the group, eleven other faces staring back at him with determination. He opened his mouth to ask who would be willing to go, but before he could so much as utter a word, the voice spoke again.

"_SO HASTY, PHARAOH. DO ALL THE YOUNG ONES HURRY SO FAST IN THEIR SHORT LIVES?_" It sounded amused at first, but it's voice quickly took on a more serious, solemn tone. "_THE CHALLENGE THAT I WILL PLACE BEFORE YOU IS MORE DIFFICULT THAN WHAT YOU HAVE FACED BEFORE. THEREFORE, YOU DESERVE MORE NOTICE AS TO WHAT YOU WILL FACE, SO THAT YOU MAY CHOOSE APPROPRIATELY._"

Yami was startled at these words, and vaguely offended at the earlier remark, but he said respectfully, "Of course...thank you for giving us warning on what we will face."

If it had an actual body that it could use, the voice probably would have smiled, but instead it continued on in it's serious, formal manner. "_TO OBTAIN THE SCROLL OF PASSION, YOU WILL BE TESTED ON HOW PASSIONATE YOU ARE TOWARDS YOUR CAUSE. YOU WILL BE RUNNING IN A SPECIAL RACING COURSE, AND THERE WILL BE OBSTACLES THAT BAR YOUR PATH. YOU MUST BRING ALL THREE TEAMATES TO THE END OF THE COURSE SAFELY. THERE IS NO TIME LIMIT; YOU MAY TAKE AS LONG AS YOU NEED. CHOOSE THE CHALLENGERS NOW._"

The voice lapsed into silence, and once he was sure there was nothing else it wished to say, Yami turned back to the others. 

"Well...you heard what it said. Does anybody wish to enter in this Challenge?"

There was silence for a minute, before Tristen stepped forward, his long, light-brown jacket fluttering slightly in the breeze. "I'll go. I haven't been much use up until now, and I need to do _something _for this cause. 'Sides, I'm decent at running, so at least I'll be _some _help."

Yami nodded quietly. "So now we have one Challenger. We still need two more. Any other volunteers?"

Kaiba frowned slightly before saying quietly, "Shouldn't there be a magic-user on this Challenge? You've run into magic in the _last _two Challenges, and who knows what 'obstacles' you might run into."

Almost immediately, all heads turned to Kaeru and Yami, the only two magic users within the group. The pharaoh blinked in surprise, but also found his attention flickering to Kaeru. The Negative Bakura looked tired, as did Kawari, due to their fight with the opposite tomb robber and the Challenge that followed soon after. 

Sighing, Yami stepped forward next to Tristen, saying, "I will go through this Challenge as the magical being."

Tea blinked uncertainly. "You sure?" she asked, frowning slightly. "You've already been through the last two--maybe you should take a break."

"No," Yami answered, shaking his head. "I'll be fine. I'll go, so long as I can control Yugi's body again to conserve magical energy." He looked over towards his lighter self as he spoke, asking the question with his eyes.

" 'Course you can," Yugi answered, grinning cheerfully. "I don't mind, it's for a good cause."

"I'll have to block you out again, you realize."

"Yeah, I figured," Yugi said, sighing a bit, "but I don't mind."

"Very well," the spirit said, grinning the tiniest bit. "Thank you, Hikari."

"We still need one more person," Mokuba interrupted, tapping his foot impatiently.

Joey sighed. "Yeah, and I'd _love _to go, but you guys still need a Negative Realm person." He looked fairly annoyed, and kicked at a pebble on the ground, sending it splashing into the river water and disappearing beneath the surface.

The rest of the group turned to look at Kaze and Saguru, the two remaining Negatives who would be up to the Challenge. Shaking his head, Kaze said dully, "I'd love to go as well, but ever since I got shot in the leg, running hasn't been my strong point. I'd be more of a hindrance than a help, to be honest."

Saguru shrugged. "Guess that leaves me, so I'm in." The Negative Joey strode forward, ignoring the slightly jealous-sounding thoughts flashing through his mind from his True self, to stand next to Yami and Tristen.

"_HAVE YOU CHOSEN?_" The voice was back, though they were all used to it now, and none of them jumped or flinched.

"We have," Yami answered, his voice respectful. "We are ready to enter the Challenge."

"_GOOD. THEN BEGIN._"

At first, nothing happened, and Yami, Saguru, and Tristen stared around them in confusion. But then the ground gave an almighty lurch, and darkness began to sweep around them...

Yami realized too late that he was in the place of Nothingness again, where nothing existed, and nothing _was._ But then the darkness all around them swept into his mind, wrapping around it, bringing it into a dull frame of mind...

Turning his head weakly, he could see that Saguru and Tristen were in similar positions, swaying in the nothingness and looking as though they were seconds from falling into unconsciousness...but then, the darkness enveloped him entirely, and his eyes slid closed, bringing him into a deep sleep until he knew no more.

*****

Yami woke slowly, unsure of where he was. His senses were numb, but after a few moments they began to come back to him, and he used them to discover what had happened to him.

The first thing he noticed was that he was laying flat on his back on some hard, packed surface. He had his eyes closed, so everything was dark, but he did not need his eyes to tell him he'd somehow ended up in Yugi's body. Obviously, the voice that guarded the Scroll knew that he'd planned to possess his aibou for the Challenge and had put him there; the lighter half was in his soul room, cut off from all knowledge as he waited for his yami spirit to finish.

Groaning slightly, Yami pried his eyes open, closing them almost instantly due to the bright light that they met. After a few moments, he cracked them open again, squinting against the brightness until he could focus correctly. 

Pulling himself into a sitting position, the ancient ruler took a quick look around, scanning the area for his fellow Challengers. He spotted Saguru first; the Negative Joey was standing a few feet to his left, looking over their surroundings with a mix of confusion and readiness. Tristen was just pulling himself to his feet near Saguru, blinking in surprise at the land around them.

Frowning, Yami stood, looking around him again for a better view of the place they were now standing in. He and his companions were standing on a wide, packed dirt road--so wide, in fact, that five or six people could run shoulder to shoulder on it, and still have some room to spare. The surrounding land outside the road was dusty and dry, with not a tree in sight, though oddly enough, lush, green grass grew in wide areas in an apparently random pattern. To add to that, the sun beat down on them, hot and summer-like, but they could not see where it was, even with a clear sky that was void of clouds. Apparently, these voices favored contradicting patterns and existences. 

"D'you think this is the Challenge?" Tristen asked, curious, looking around him with apparent awe and confusion.

"Has to be," Saguru answered, shrugging. "Why else would we be here?"

"Well...what do you think we're supposed to do?" 

As if hearing their question, the voice spoke up once more, it's terrifying, yet calming sound coming from all directions around them, and from nowhere at all. "_YOU MUST RUN IN A NORTHERN DIRECTION ALONG THE ROAD UNTIL YOU REACH THE END. YOU MAY NOT LEAVE THE ROAD AT ANY COSTS, LEST YOU DESIRE TO LOOSE. BEGIN._"

"I suppose that clears it up," Yami said, in a somewhat dry manner.

Saguru shrugged. "Well, might as well get going. That way's North, come on." He pointed in one direction, and they followed the wide, dirt road along it, trotting easily and wondering what on Earth they could possibly find in this Challenge.

After moving for nearly fifteen minutes, it became clear that Saguru was the fastest of them all--he seemed to have a natural talent for running, almost, and sped along without trouble. He hadn't even broken into a sweat yet, from the movement or the heat, whereas Tristen and Yami had a fine dew sprouting on their foreheads from the unseen sun above and it's heat. 

Since there had been no occurrences for the fifteen minutes they had been running, Tristen struck up a conversation. "Man! How on Earth do you _run _like that?"

Saguru laughed, looking back over his shoulder at his friends, who were several steps behind him. "Lots of training. Although, I've always been a good runner, even before the Opposition." He gave another little chuckle. "'Cause of that, people call me the Wolf, back at the base."

Tristen grimaced slightly at the nickname that so closely resembled Kaiba's dog jokes, and said rather uncertainly, "and you put up with it?"

The Negative Joey laughed again at this. "I think you're mistaken. A wolf can run for several hours without stopping because it has lots of endurance and muscle. It's a compliment, not an insult."

"Oh." Tristen still sounded rather unconvinced.

The Negative sighed. "You thought it was a Kaiba insult?"

"Er...you could say that..."

Saguru shrugged. "Kaze doesn't like insults, believe me. He discourages it. In fact, the only time I've ever heard him actually throw an insult at somebody else was when he's communicated with the Hand of the Shadow."

The brunette Challenger raised an eyebrow. "I still think it's weird that you two get along. I mean, it doesn't make sense...Kaiba and Joey, best friends..." he shook his head. 

Saguru seemed to think this was amusing, but his voice became more serious as he said, "Well, we weren't always friends, you know."

"Really?" Now Tristen looked interested, and Yami, though he'd said nothing, was also listening closely.

"Oh, not like here...I mean, we never hated each other's guts, if that's what you're thinking of," the Negative said, concentrating hard, as if it took a lot of effort to bring back the old memories, "it was more like...he left us alone. Me and the rest of the group, that is. I mean, if you asked him to hang out with you, he would, and he'd be nice about it and all, but for the most part he was a loner." He sighed and added, "but that all changed once Yami took over in our Realm."

At this, the True ancient spirit growled slightly, but Tristen only looked more interested. "Really? How so?"

Saguru shrugged, unconsciously pushing for more speed and causing Yami and Tristen to have to catch up to him if they wished to hear anything. "Well, just think about it. Yami's on the loose, and he's not afraid to kill or hurt people to get what he wants. He wants to make the biggest impact he can on people, and to show just how strong he can be. Yugi's already dead at this point; he needs a new target. Who, then, d'you think he'd go after?"

Tristen shook his head, not knowing the answer, but Yami was an expert strategist, and answered quietly, "Yugi's family and friends."

"Exactly," Saguru muttered, giving Yami a quick, unsure glance before returning to his tale. "The Yami in our Realm went after Yugi's grandpa first, but Kaeru stopped him and smuggled Gramps off to America, so that plan was destroyed pretty quick. Yug' had no other family to speak of, so who'd be next in line?" His face was darker, now, and he spoke the next line bitterly. "Why, none other than Joey Wheeler, Yugi's best buddy."

Tristen was shocked. "You?! But then...how..."

"How am I still alive?" the Negative asked grimly, nodding. "Good question. It wasn't easy. Yami attacked me when I was home; luckily, my sister was out shopping at the mall with some friends, or I'm sure she would've been dead. He came after me with full intention of murdering me on the spot; he even used the same technique he used on Yugi, tearing down half my house while I was still in it. I lived through that, but barely. I would've been dead soon after, but luckily for me, somebody else knew about that attack.

"See, Kaze had the Opposition running by that time. It was pretty shoddy, and still needed a lot of work, because it was only a month or two old, but it was already tracking down Yami's movements and predicting what he was gonna do. Kaze knew Yami was out for my blood, so he set up a counter-attack and met Yami at my house only a few minutes after it fell. There was a quick battle, and Yami was forced to leave--he didn't want to murder a good twenty people and give himself away too early--but still, most of the men that were on the rescue party were injured. You should see some of the scars Kaze had; he was one of the main men that fought that crazy spirit." He sighed, taking a momentary break in his story, before continuing.

"Anyway. They had to dig me out of the rubble that was left of my house, because I was buried pretty deep. It wasn't pretty, when they found me--I was a broken, bloody mess. Broken arms, cracked ribs, snapped legs. Fractured skull and a concussion; at the time they were worried about possible brain damage. Heavy bleeding and blood-loss. 

"Because of all that, most of the men just wanted to let me die then and there; said it wasn't worth the trouble to try and bring me back to full health when I was in such a bad state. But Kaze wouldn't _hear _of it. Said he was never going to let another person die in front of him if he could do one thing about it. 

"The men tried to come up with all sorts of excuses as to why they couldn't bring me back and heal me up, but Kaze beat all of them down. _You _know," the Negative interrupted, glancing at the other two, "it's _Kaiba_, if he wants something he can damn well get it if he fights hard enough." Yami nodded in agreement, having faced that same Seto Kaiba stubbornness many a time before, and Tristen grimaced.

"Well, anyway," Saguru continued, moving back to his story, "they eventually ran out of excuses, and were finally willing to bring me back, though grudgingly--until they realized the stretcher they'd brought in case of emergencies had been destroyed by Yami in the fight. At that, they thought they had Kaze stumped--but he was still firm on not letting me die, and so he went and _carried_ me _himself _all the way back. The rest of the guys on the mission were point-blank amazed." 

Now Tristen's face was covered in an expression of pure surprise, and even Yami looked vaguely amazed at this part of the story.

"So Kaze brought me back," Saguru continued, "and handed me over to the medical experts at the Opposition base. It took me _weeks _to heal up completely, but as you can see, I've made a full recovery. After that, I knew I was in debt to Kaze with my life, so I joined up at the Opposition in Yugi's name--at the time, he was in desperate need of new members. We got to be friends soon enough, and I worked my way up to second in command of the Opposition." He shrugged. "And here I am now."

There was silence for a few minutes, before Tristen muttered softly, "Man, your Realm is _different._"

After that, the silence covered them all, and they ran on down the path, not talking much, each buried in their own private thoughts. The only sounds that could be heard were the soft panting of the three beings as they ran and the footfalls of their feet as they pushed themselves onward. 

After another ten minutes had passed uneventfully in quiet, they suddenly spotted something in front of them, on the horizon. Keeping their same speeds, they moved forwards and had soon reached it, and groaned in annoyance at what they saw.

What they had come up to was a three-pronged fork in the road, splitting off in completely different directions and speeding away from them over the lush wasteland.

"Aw, great," Saguru muttered in true Joey fashion. "_Now _what do we do?"

Tristen, too, was frowning at the fork. "Which one do we choose? Only one way can be the right way to the end."

"It's worse than that, Tristen," Yami said softly, staring at the fork with narrowed, suspicious eyes. "Only one of these is the true road. The other two, should we take them, would probably be considered as 'going off of the path,' in which case we would loose the Challenge."

"So how are we supposed to know where to go?!" Tristen yelled out to the sky, plainly annoyed. "This isn't fair, this is a trick!"

Yami blinked. "Say that again, Tristen."

The brunette raised an eyebrow, but repeated, "This isn't fair, it's a trick."

The spirit broke into an abrupt grin. "Exactly. It's a trick. I should have known."

Saguru looked confused. "What do you mean?"

But the Pharaoh would say nothing yet to give away his idea. "Just give me a second to check," he said slowly, as the Millennium Puzzle flared to life. 

Sighing, the Negative and True beings crossed their arms and waited. Yami was concentrating deeply, staring at the fork with flickering eyes. Finally, he grinned.

"Yes, I was right. It's an Illusion."

"Really?" Saguru asked, sounding somewhat impressed, and somewhat annoyed. "Damn, they're annoying. So how do we break it? Is it powerful?"

Yami looked vaguely surprised that Saguru knew what an 'Illusion' was, but went on gamely. "It's not _too _powerful, though it will take some work and a bit of magic to break. Give me a moment."

The spirit closed his violet eyes, holding the Puzzle in one hand as he concentrated. Within moments, a green light seemed to envelop him--the Puzzle's magical energy. It flared around him like a fire that did not burn those that it touched, making for a beautiful, yet somewhat disturbing, effect. 

The ancient being's eyes snapped open suddenly, and he stared ahead of them at the three pronged fork. Grinning slightly, he said in a triumphant tone, "I broke it."

Saguru grinned, turning to look at the fork as well, but the smile was wiped from his face as he gazed at the obstacle that had caused them trouble. "Er...no you didn't...it's still a fork."

Yami frowned. "What? But I only see one road."

Tristen shrugged. "I have to go with Saguru on this one, there's still three roads there."

"I must have broken it only for my eyes, then," Yami murmured, frowning slightly. "Very well, you will just have to trust me. It's the left-hand path that you must follow." Without hesitation, the spirit stepped forward, moving off down the path he had indicated without a hint of nervousness. The other two, exchanging quick glances, followed him, trusting the entire Challenge to his judgement.

Fortunately, there was no message from that terrible voice telling them that they had lost the Challenge, and they realized that Yami must have been right when he said only he could see through the Illusion. Grinning, they continued on, gaining speed once more and dashing down the path--they had passed the first obstacle.

They ran on for what seemed like ages, hoping that they would soon meet up with the next obstacle--it would mean they were getting further along in their Challenge, as annoying or difficult as it may have been. Unfortunately, however, it seemed like it would never come. Another fifteen minutes of hard running had passed uneventfully, Tristen and Yami were beginning to tire, sweat beading on their faces. Even Saguru's pace was slacking ever-so-slightly, though he covered it quite well with his determined face and even gait. 

They were beginning to give up the idea of running into the next obstacle when Saguru spotted it--a dark shape, sitting far ahead on the horizon along their path. Exchanging triumphant looks, they forced themselves onto faster speeds and sped ahead, hoping to discover what it was in front of them.

They reached it five minutes of hard running later, and were rather disappointed at what they found. A wall stood in their path, nearly fifteen feet tall and stretching across the entire road, extending into the mixed barren wasteland and lush grass beyond the edges of their way. It was smooth and had no cracks or holes in it, and towered above them, presenting, without any doubt, their next obstacle.

"Well," Tristen observed unhappily, "We can't walk around it; it stretches off the road, and we're not allowed to leave it."

"Can't climb it either," Saguru muttered, after striding forward and running a hand over the smooth surface of the wall. "Nothing to use as a hand- or foot-hold." He sighed. "This is going to be tough."

The three stood back a ways, staring at the wall with nearly identical frowns. It stood quietly, almost innocently, which seemed to aggravate them even more.

"Maybe if I get on Tristen's shoulders?" Saguru asked, rather half-heartedly.

"Can't. Even standing on top of each other, we'd still come several feet short of the top of the wall."

The three of them sighed, staring at the obstacle in their path once again. They weren't sure how to pass it without disobeying the rules...but then, very slowly, a grin crept over Tristen's face.

"Hey...Saguru!" he called, turning to stare at his Negative friend.

"Hmm?"

Grinning, the brunette walked closer to the wall, laced his fingers together, holding them at waist level, and bent his knees a little. "Up and over?"

The same grin was suddenly spreading over Saguru's face as well. He nodded, looking determined, and said in an affirming manner, "Up and over."

Yami frowned slightly and was just about to ask what they were up to, when Saguru began backing up until he was almost at the edge of the road. Still grinning, the blonde counted out loud to three, and then dashed forward, running straight towards Tristen.

The brunette was ready. He tensed his muscles, coiling them for the quick spring they were going to need, and waited patiently, his fingers still laced. 

Saguru looked as if he was about to run into his friend, but at the last second he jumped, raising his left foot and stepping firmly into Tristen's laced hands. Like lightning, the brown-haired teen absorbed the sudden heavy weight by bending his knees, and then shot his hands upward, pushing the teen he was currently supporting towards the wall.

The result was something like a sling-shot; Saguru was rocketed from Tristen's laced hands, shooting upwards and nearing the top of the wall. He threw out a hand quickly, snatching the wall in a firm grip, and then placed his second hand next to it, insuring that he would not fall. He was now, unbelievably, hanging from the wall.

Yami stared up at the Negative teen in surprise. "So _that _was what you were planning to do..."

Saguru had steadied his grip on the top of the wall, and now swung a leg over the top, pulling himself up on it's surface. Once there, he looked over towards the other side of the wall, observing where they had left to go, and then turned, sitting down calmly on the edge, fifteen feet up from the ground.

"Not so bad up here," he said casually, looking down at the two with a soft grin. "Nice wide ledge, easy to keep your balance without falling off."

"Yeah, well," Tristen said, panting slightly from his sudden activity and massaging one of his fingers, which had been slightly bruised due to Saguru's foot landing on it, "how do _we _get up?"

"Right, I've been thinking about that, and I have an idea. Okay, first Yami'll come up, since he's shorter. Tristen, you'll have to support him on your shoulders, okay?"

The brunette nodded, as did Yami, and both of them moved into action. Tristen knelt down so that the ancient spirit could clamber onto his shoulders; the ruler, in turn, tried to stand on his toes so as not to press the sharp heels of his boots into his friend. Lifting up, Tristen held him steady carefully and waited for Saguru to take action.

The Negative Joey had laid down on his stomach on the top of the wall, stretching his hands down until he could reach Yami. Clasping hands in a sailor's lock, the opposite teen set to work pulling the darker spirit up. He seemed to do it fairly easily, and within the span of only a minute or so, the ancient ruler was up and sitting beside the Negative, staring down at Tristen.

"Okay," Saguru said cheerfully, grinning, "Now you're the only one left, Tristen. Let me see...toss up your coat, okay?"

Tristen blinked at this odd request, but suddenly understood what the Negative had in mind. Nodding, he pulled of his long brown coat and tossed it up, allowing Saguru to catch it by one of the sleeves. 

"Now," the Negative Joey explained, as he began rolling the coat out into an almost rope-like look and tying a few strong knots in it to keep it together, "we're gonna use this to pull Tristen up. But I'll need your help, Yami, because Tristen down there is bound to be a _lot _heavier than you were."

The dark spirit nodded. "Of course. I'll help to the best of my ability."

"Great...okay, here we go, Tristen!" Still grinning, Saguru tossed one end of the now-rope-like coat down, and the other teen caught hold of it, testing it's strength. 

"Now...on the count of three, guys!" Saguru seemed to have taken control without meaning to, though Yami did not mind, and neither, apparently, did Tristen. 

"One..." Yami reached out for the coat-rope, grabbing a firm hold on it and waiting. "Two..." Tristen placed one foot on the wall, as if steadying himself for the climb. "Three!"

Saguru and Yami gave a firm tug on the makeshift rope, pulling hard in order to bring their friend up over the wall. Tristen, meanwhile, was using the support they were giving him to climb the coat-rope, bringing his assent to the top of the wall to a quicker pace. 

After several minutes, Tristen had nearly reached the top; discarding the makeshift rope, Saguru grabbed one of his friend's wrists, pulling his friend up instead. Yami tugged the coat up quickly, so as to get it out of the way, and tossed it to one side on the wall ledge before grabbing Tristen's second wrist. Between the two of them, they managed to pull the brunette up entirely, and within moments he was sitting next to them on the wall, panting slightly from the climb.

"Well," Saguru said, after several seconds, "that was an interesting obstacle."

"No kidding," Tristen said flatly, snatching his coat and beginning to un-knot it so that he could wear it again.

"At least we passed it," Yami said, shrugging, as he stared down at the road they had not yet touched. 

"And it's time to pass some others, as soon as you guys get your breath back," Saguru said cheerfully. "I'll meet you down at the bottom." And without warning, he whirled, lowered himself as far as he could with his hands from the top of the wall, and dropped, landing cat-like on the ground below.

Tristen and Yami exchanged looks; as great as these Negatives were, they seemed to not have a problem with tiring out, unlike the True Realm beings. Sighing, Tristen slipped his now knot-free coat on and lowered himself off of the wall, dropping to the ground in a slightly-less-graceful way. Yami soon followed, and within a few minutes, the trio of Challengers was off marching down the road again, running at a decent pace so as to meet up with their next obstacle soon.

Another fifteen minutes passed without occurrence; it seemed to be a pattern now, to run for ages, and then to meet the next obstacle. It worked well against them, for it wore them down with fatigue before they faced their next problem, and therefore made it more difficult for them to face it.

This was how they were found, fifteen minutes after the fork in the road, their previous obstacle. All of them were beginning to tire, though Yami showed it the most, having the shortest legs and therefore having to work harder to keep up with his fellow Challengers. Tristen had sweat running down the sides of his face, and even Saguru had beads of moisture forming on his forehead from the mix of heat and fatigue. 

"Yeesh...you'd think we'd have run into something by now," Tristen panted, his pace slacking the tiniest bit.

"Don't complain...the next Challenge is probably gonna be _really _difficult, after what we've been through," Saguru muttered. 

Despite the Negative's reasoning, after several more minutes of running they were able to spot their next obstacle. It was still some distance away, but it was dark and looked quite large, sending an ominous feeling shivering down the three Challengers' spines.

A good ten minutes later, they had reached it, stopping dead with open jaws and wide eyes.

"And we thought the _last _two were hard?" Tristen practically shrieked, backing up a pace.

They were facing a wide, deep chasm in the ground. It looked as though the earth had cracked in half, leaving a wide, rounded fissure that split off the edges of the path. Shadows found homes within it's great depths, taunting the threesome with the distance that they would fall if they should fail to cross. At nearly twenty feet wide, it seemed impossible to make it to the other side without going around it, an act that they could not perform for the sake of staying in the Challenge.

"How are we supposed to get across _that?_" Tristen said flatly, observing the hole with apparent unease. 

"Maybe we could climb down to the bottom and climb back up on the other side?" Saguru suggested, though it sounded as though he was a bit unsure about such an idea.

Yami frowned before picking up a fair-sized chunk of rock. "Only one way to figure out how deep it is," he said softly, before walking to the edge and dropping the stone in his hands into it's gaping depths. The three of them awaited a sound to indicate how deep the pit was--but unbelievably, the sound never came.

"Hoh boy," the Negative Joey muttered. "Don't wanna fall down _that, _that's for sure." The others nodded in grim agreement.

They stood back a ways from the edge of the pit, sitting on the ground and staring at the gigantic hole dully, as if wondering what to do. They obviously could not jump across it, and as they had no suitable equipment with them, swinging across was not much of an option either. 

Nearly ten minutes went by, during which they exchanged ideas and discarded all of them, deciding that they were either too dangerous or just wouldn't work. They were beginning to get discouraged--how on _earth _were they supposed to get over twenty feet without falling?

After some time, however, Yami murmured softly, "Well...it _may _work...but it'd be a risk..."

"What?!" The other two asked eagerly, desperate for a good idea.

Frowning, Yami explained. "You see...I was thinking...I could use the Millennium Puzzle to 'summon' a bridge, of sorts, from another place."

Saguru raised an eyebrow. "Whaddya mean?"

"What I mean," Yami said softly, "Is that I can take a bridge or support that exists in another Realm and 'borrow' it's existence. You obviously know about Realms, of course--it makes sense that in one Realm, somewhere, there is a bridge in this area, does it not?"

"Well...yeah...I suppose," Saguru muttered, thinking.

"So I can use my Puzzle to 'pull it through,' and borrow it's existence temporarily for our use."

"It wouldn't take it away from another person, would it?" Tristen asked, having a rather gruesome image of a man walking on a bridge that suddenly disappeared underneath him...

"No, no," Yami said, sounding appalled at the suggestion. "It's like...you know when you write on a pad of paper, how the main copy is written down on the top sheet, but there's always that nearly-invisible print underneath from the pressure of your pencil?" The other two nodded, and Yami continued. "It's the same idea. The main bridge would still exist, but there would be a sort of outline or echo of it left, which I can call to use, with some difficulty."

"Ah," Tristen said, nodding, suddenly understanding what the spirit meant. "So why would it be risky?"

The ancient ruler frowned. "Well," he murmured slowly, "you've already seen how difficult it is to bring something from one Realm to another. With the limited magic of the Millennium Puzzle, the 'outline' of the bridge may disappear before we are finished with it."

Saguru shrugged. "We'll just have to take the risk and get across quick. It's the only good idea we've had, and we _need _to get this Scroll."

Yami sighed. "Very well," he said softly, pulling himself to his feet and moving forwards a few paces to stand at the edge of the pit. Once more, he concentrated on the magic of the Millennium Puzzle, placing all of his energies in it's bright-line spectrum form before carefully selecting a ghostly, pale white line of light--the magic he would need to perform what he was about to attempt.

The Puzzle began to glow, but not in it's usual golden-green; instead, it flickered with the pale white light that Yami had so carefully selected. He clamped his eyes shut for better concentration and began weaving the spell that would be needed. 

Very slowly, the light from Yami's Puzzle began to shine brighter, glowing until it was no longer ghostly, but strong and brilliant. Tristen and Saguru shielded their eyes from the luminance, but suddenly found them being torn from Yami to the deep chasm that caused them so much difficulty.

The air seemed to be solidifying, crushing together to form a solid object, but it did not gain color; or at least, it gained very little, for apart from a wispy gray tint, it stayed absolutely clear, almost invisible. Very slowly, it gained an outline, shaky and thin, as though some artist that lacked confidence had tried to trace the object with too small a pen. Once the outline was in place, Tristen and Saguru could see, if they squinted, the vague shape of a rope bridge. It was difficult to tell if it was even there, however, for they could see straight through the planks that formed the foot-path, and the ropes that held it up seemed to be patterned with the pebbles and rocks that made up the inside of the chasm. The bridge was transparent, and practically invisible.

"That's...the best...I can do," Yami panted, clutching the Millennium Puzzle as if it was a lifeline. "Hurry across...I have to go last...so that I can support it..."

"Is he sure it's steady?" Tristen muttered to Saguru. "I mean, just _look _at it."

Saguru shrugged. "I believe him. Here, I'll go first." Striding forward, he reached the transparent bridge and waved his hands around momentarily before finding one of the rope hand rails. Grasping hold of it, he was slightly startled to find that it was solid, and even felt like tough rope, with it's scratchy, twisted feel. Blinking, he found the second hand rail, and with a small, determined breath, stepped forward onto the first plank.

It held, amazingly, and felt strong and firm--it even made the same dull thud of true wood when he tapped his shoe on it. Still amazed, but now convinced that it really was the echo of a true bridge, he took another step, testing the next nearly-invisible plank carefully before moving on. After all, he reasoned, they didn't know how old this borrowed bridge was, and there could be rotted planks or something of the sort. Or maybe he'd just seen too many movies before the Opposition had started.

Nothing terrible happened, however, and Saguru had reached the other side of the bottomless chasm with ease. Turning around, he felt a pang of shock as he stared across the bridge at his friends, for looking back it seemed as though he'd walked across on thin air--the bridge was practically invisible.

"Come on, it's fine!" He shouted across at his two remaining companions, grinning widely. 

Tristen moved towards the bridge next, having to leave Yami for last so that he could continue to support the echo. He frowned as he passed the spirit; the Pharaoh was clinging so hard to the Millennium Puzzle that the corners had probably been printed into his hands, and he was sweating hard. Apparently, sustaining such a thing as an echo of a bridge was tough.

Sighing, the brunette passed Yami's still form and moved to the bridge. He found the beginning fairly easily, squinting so as to see the thin 'outline' of it, and grasping firm hold of the hand rails. Now that he knew it was entirely safe, he could move much faster across, not having to test each plank and rope as Saguru had done. He reached the other side in minutes, turning around quickly to face Yami, the only one left on the other side.

"Come on, your turn, Yami!" he yelled across, hoping the spirit could move quickly--from the way things looked, the pharaoh was having a tougher time than before keeping the bridge in existence.

Yami nodded slowly, stepping forward at practically a snail's pace to reach the bridge. He found it without too much trouble, despite it's nearly invisible look, and took a slow step onto the first plank.

Almost as soon as he did, he gave a shudder, and clutched hard at the one rope hand rail he was using, leaning on it. The bridge shook slightly, and Yami wavered, momentarily unsure of what was going on.

"What's the matter with him?" Tristen muttered, frowning.

"Not sure, but we've gotta get him over here," Saguru hissed, before raising his voice. "Come on, Yami, it's not too hard, just come across real quick!"

The spirit nodded slowly and took another few steps forward, looking as if it took all his strength just to do that. It must have been terribly difficult to sustain the bridge _and _walk on it at the same time, the two remaining Challengers mused, frowning.

Still, however difficult it may have been, Yami was not one to give up so easily, and he showed it. Though he moved slowly, he was making his way across the invisible bridge without anything wrong happening. 

He was nearly seven feet from Saguru and Tristen, roughly two thirds of the way over, when he suddenly stopped. "I can't go anymore," he muttered slowly, groaning.

"What? No way, man, you've gotta keep on going, com'mon!" Saguru roared, encouragement and determination in his voice.

"No...I mean...it's going to vanish," Yami panted, leaning against one of the transparent rope hand rails and looking exhausted.

"What?!" Saguru shrieked. "Oh, shit..."

Tristen felt the same way, but he reacted quickly. He dived forward onto the bridge again, running quickly so as to reach his comrade before their support would disappear. The fast movement made the bridge shake and waver dangerously, but the brown-haired boy didn't care. He'd reached Yami, and grasping his friend's wrist, he turned and began running back towards Saguru.

He had one foot on firm, solid ground when the bridge disappeared from underneath his and Yami's feet. Though he tried to pull his friend up onto the rocky soil, Yami was standing on nothing, and so was like a dead weight to Tristen, who was still grasping his wrist. Like an anchor, the exhausted pharaoh began to pull them both down...

Saguru dived into action, his Opposition training and instinct mixing with his determination to save his friends. He grabbed Tristen's shoulder, pulling the teen forwards onto the solid ground with a swift tug; the sudden movement made the brunette's hand open automatically, and Yami was suddenly unsupported. 

Like lightning, the Negative Joey's hands shot out, grasping Yami's wrist firmly; he held on tightly, and the spirit's fall was brought to an abrupt halt. The pharaoh was slammed rather painfully into the rock walls of the chasm, but the slight pain was nothing compared the relief he felt that he had been saved. 

With a small grunt, Saguru pulled the spirit up onto the rocky ground next to Tristen, who was still laying face-down on his stomach where he'd been tossed after being pulled up by the Negative. Sighing with relief, Yami threw himself on his back, sprawled out, thankful to be alive--as alive as a spirit could be, in any case.

"Man, don't scare me like that!" Saguru hissed angrily, dusting himself off. He was panting slightly, now, and gazed down at the two True Realm beings, having been the only one left to stand. 

"Sorry," Tristen muttered, though it was rather hard to understand him, as he was still face down, and the sound was rather muffled.

Saguru sighed. "Here, let's get away from this stupid hole," he muttered. Tristen nodded, pulling himself to his feet and marching away from the hole as if he never wanted to see it again, while Yami simply got up, moved a few feet away, and flopped back onto the ground, exhausted.

"Guess you need some rest," Saguru observed.

"Very much so. There is no time limit; just give me some time to pull myself back together."

The Negative nodded. "Right. Of course. Tell us when you're ready to move on."

They stayed in that area for nearly twenty minutes, Yami simply laying on the ground, eyes closed, while Tristen and Saguru talked about what they might possibly face for their next obstacle.

"Okay," Yami finally sighed, pulling himself to his feet again. "I'm ready. Let's get going."

They began to jog along once more, starting slow at first for Yami's benefit, but eventually speeding up their pace until they were moving as fast as they had been earlier. They did not expect anything to happen for a good fifteen minutes or so, making them figure that it was probably okay to use large quantities of energy to cover ground.

Barely five minutes after they had left the bottomless chasm behind, however, they heard a screeching, high-pitched call, coming from the wastelands to their right and a little behind them. Curious, Saguru asked the others, "What was that?"

The others shrugged, not having the answer, and the Negative sighed. "Probably nothing concerning us. Let's just keep going."

But the call repeated itself, becoming louder and louder as it went. Nearly five minutes passed with it's uncomfortable, ear-splitting shrieks, until finally Yami hissed, "Whatever it is, it's beginning to get annoying. I hope it stops soon."

Frowning, Saguru looked over his shoulder, hoping to spot the creature or thing that was causing the noise. He soon wished he hadn't; eyes wider than before, he hissed to the others, "I think we should run faster."

"Why?" the other Challengers asked, curious.

" 'Cause our next obstacle's a Duel Monster, and it's chasing us."

Startled, the other two whipped their heads around, trying to notice the thing that had made Saguru nervous. Yami spotted it first, and had to agree that it was, indeed, a Duel Monster.

It was still quite a ways away, but it was gaining fast, and could already be easily recognizable. There was no mistaking it's scaly texture and green shade; it was obviously a dragon of some sort. Oddly enough, it had no arms or legs; it looked like a thick-bodied snake attached to a pair of blood-red wings. There were pewter-gray spikes running down it's back, though they stopped far short of it's tail--if one could determine where the body ended and the tail began--and they looked sharp and dangerous. What was most startling about this _particular _dragon, however, was that it wore armor; it had a steel chest-plate that was attached to it by means of a metal ring around it's body, along with a beak-like helmet that covered and protected it's single, dark black eye. Yami thought vaguely that he'd seen it's card in Yugi's Grandpa's shop before; a One-Eyed Shield Dragon, he thought it was called. 

"Oh, man," Tristen yelped, startled, before turning back to keep his eyes on the road. "We'd better run like hell!"

They did, pelting as fast as they possibly could down the road set out for them--the True Realm beings could see why Saguru was called the Wolf, now--but the Shield Dragon was faster. It pumped it's wide, strong wings, bringing it ever closer to it's goal, and let off another screech with it's sharp, beak-like mouth. Now that it was closer, they could see just how big it was--while still fairly small for a dragon, it was at least ten feet from beak to tail-tip. 

"Crap," Saguru hissed angrily, turning to check it's progress. "It's too fast!"

"Yeah, I _really _don't want to get eaten by a dragon," Tristen muttered, speeding up his pace ever so slightly.

"Just put all your effort into running," Yami yelled over to his friend. He was surprised that he was even keeping _up _with the other two; usually he fell behind, due to his short legs, but he supposed a strong burst of adrenaline had changed the matter entirely.

"Just hope it doesn't get close enough to use it's attack," Saguru panted.

"And what's that?" Tristen asked, sounding slightly nervous.

"Says it on the card. 'This dragon wears a shield not only for it's own protection, but also for ramming it's enemies.' Can you _imagine _how painful it would be to get hammered by a metal shield with a dragon's weight on it? It'd be _devastating!_"

"Just concentrate on running," Yami repeated. He was trying to charge up the magic in his Puzzle for an attack, but after his spell at the chasm, with the bridge, he doubted he'd be of any use. 

The dragon screamed again, it's cry loud, and pumped it's wings still harder, pushing itself forward. This encouraged the Challengers to force their speed still faster, though they were beginning to wear down.

Abruptly, Tristen spoke, though he was, surprisingly, not commenting on the dragon. "What's that ahead of us?"

"Don't tell me it's another dragon," Saguru said flatly, still running.

"No...I don't think it is..." The brunette squinted as best as he could while running. "It looks like..._trees._"

He was right, Yami noted, as he looked ahead of them. Some distance away along their path, he could see the tall, bristling forms of two trees, one on each side of the road. They seemed out of place in the wasteland, where not a tree had been seen until now, and they had an almost powerful feeling...

Yami blinked in surprise and looked over the trees for a second time. They were even with each other across the road, and seemed to be almost _marking _something...

With a start, he realized. "Those trees! They're supposed to be indicating the _finishing line!_"

"So...so we have to get _there _before the dragon gets _us?_" Tristen yelled loudly over the roar of the creature behind them. "Think we can make it?"

"We can, if we slow it down," Saguru said quickly, looking over his shoulder once more--the dragon was dangerously close, it's scream ripping their ears to shreds.

"How on _earth _do we slow _that _thing down?!" the brunette yelled, sounding somewhat angry. "It's impossible!"

"Not for me," the Negative said, a small grin making it's way onto his face. "You guys get running, you need the advantage. I'll buy us some time."

The other two tried to argue with him, but he refused, point-blank, to let them stay behind with him, and so they jogged on, worried about their friend.

They need not have bothered. Saguru came to an abrupt halt, spinning around to face the dragon, and plunged his hand into his jacket pocket. It came out with a gun; the Negative clenched it tightly in his fist, and looked as if he knew how to use it.

With perfect grace and ease, he raised the gun and fired three rapid shots at the Shield Dragon. The first two rebounded off of the chest plate that the creature wore with an odd metallic clang, but the third planted itself at the base of the wing joint, where it met the body. 

The creature screeched in agony, throwing up it's head in pain; it veered to the side unconsciously, landing momentarily to lick at it's wound, casting Saguru with a momentary glare from it's one dark eye.

The Negative grinned. "Score one for Saguru!" he yelled loudly, his mocking tone making the Shield dragon hiss angrily. He then turned, and without hesitation used all his endurance to catch up to Tristen and Yami, who were some distance ahead.

Yami and Tristen had seen the entire thing, watching over their shoulder. When the opposite Joey caught up, they both asked at nearly the same time, "Where'd you get that gun?!"

"I've had it with me since I came through from my Realm," Saguru said, shrugging. "Remember, I _was _in a raid before I was brought through. What else would I fight with?"

"I dunno...knives and dirks and things, like the others?" Tristen asked, shrugging.

"Nah...Kaze and Kawari might like blade weapons, but I definitely favor the more modern things." He changed the topic quickly as he saw his two fellow Challengers slowing down. "Hold it...keep moving, whatever you do. Just because I shot it doesn't mean it won't be catching up. I've only delayed it."

They took his advice, pounding down the dirt-packed road towards what was hopefully the goal. They weren't _too _far from it now, although they still had some distance to go; all three of them were hoping they could make it there before they became a dragon's afternoon snack.

The Shield Dragon, meanwhile, was beginning to recover. It had licked it's wounded wing-joint until the blood flow had stopped, and now it was angry. Raising it's wings, it pumped them hard and took off into the air once more, streaming after Saguru, Yami, and Tristen. Fortunately for the Challengers, the wound had left it's mark; the creature often veered to the left without meaning to, for it's left wing was wounded, while the right wing was more powerful, pushing it to the side. It was also the tiniest bit slower, making running from the beast somewhat easier, though not much.

Worse, the Challengers were running out of endurance. They'd run the entire Challenge race so far, and were exhausted, making them slow down and become easier for the Shield Dragon to overcome; the reptilian beast plowed forward, pushing with it's great wings, and was suddenly only feet behind them.

"How'd it get here so fast?!" one of them shrieked--it was all too confused to realize who had spoken. The dragon was roaring loudly now, showing sharp teeth and waving it's pointed, beak-like nose and helmet in a movement that they obviously realized was triumph.

Without warning, it folded it's wings around itself and dived, rocketing downward at the three Challengers and shrieking loudly. At it's speed, it's metal-clad beak would be as sharp and deadly as a knife; the steel encasing it's body would kill any person it landed on. 

"Dodge!" Saguru shouted wildly. The threesome threw themselves in different directions, being careful to stay on the road, as the Shield Dragon hammered down only feet behind them. The ground shook from it's impact, throwing them off balance, and it stretched out it's wide mouth in the hopes of snatching one of them up.

"Run, run now, I'll hold it back!" Saguru shouted, leveling his gun with the creature once again. It was struggling to bring itself airborne without any limbs to push it into the air, and the Negative knew he had it at an advantage.

"But we--"

"Just _run!_" the opposite Joey hissed. "Look, the finish line's close now, just make for it and I'll catch up! _Go!_"

Obediently, Tristen and Yami picked themselves up and darted away from the creature, towards the trees that had to mark the finish line. It was only seventy feet away, and if they could just keep running for a few solid minutes, they'd make it...

Saguru, meanwhile, was busy with the Shield Dragon. He only had four shots left in his gun, he knew, and he had to make them count. 

Leaping backwards a pace so that the sweeping wings would not knock him off of his feet, he took aim and fired. His first bullet hammered into the second wing joint, making the creature scream loudly. The second and third shots bounced off the helmet of the dragon, as it's head was weaving crazily due to it's pain, but the fourth and final shot hit where he had aimed--straight in it's one eye, blinding the creature.

It screeched loudly, crying out it's pain to all that would listen, and Saguru felt as if his ears were being torn off of him. Groaning, he covered them quickly and turned, dashing after his friends madly, hoping to get away from the creature and it's cry.

He caught up to them after a few minutes; they were nearly at the finish line marked by the trees, with perhaps only thirty feet or so to go. 

"What did you _do _to it?" Yami hissed, panting heavily.

"Blinded it," Saguru muttered, placing his now-empty gun back in his jacket pocket. "It won't be able to see us so well, then."

"All dragons have an excellent sense of smell and hearing, though," Yami warned him. "It can still follow us!"

"I know, but at least it'll be harder for the damn thing."

The spirit gave an exasperated sigh, but it was swallowed up by the roar of the Shield Dragon. The creature had risen into the air again, and despite it's two wing wounds, it plowed after them with incredible speed. It was almost on them already, screaming angrily, blood streaming from it's single eye.

But they were almost at the finish, now, with only fifteen feet to go...ten...

The Shield Dragon was on them, now, raising it's huge bulk so as to slam it's metal plates down onto them and crush them to death...

With a final burst of speed, Saguru dashed passed the trees and 'across' the finish line, Tristen following with Yami only seconds behind them. Their momentum carried them onward, and they could not slow down, continuing to run on down the dirt path...

...And the land around them flickered, leaving Saguru darting quite suddenly towards the river's edge on the bank.

"What the...!" the Negative yelled in surprise, only moments away from taking a bath in the river water. He scrabbled to a halt, balancing on the edge of the bank for a moment with waving arms, before gaining hold of his balance and coming to a stop with a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately for him, Tristen and Yami had not seen the river ahead of them, as Saguru blocked their path, nor had they tried to slow down the momentum of their final mad dash. They crashed into Saguru's back, and the entire party of Challengers overbalanced, collapsing with a splash into the waters below.

Saguru blinked, wiping his now-soggy bangs out of his eyes, and spat out a mouthful of water. He was in the shallows of the river, were the current wasn't so strong, but the water still came up to his neck while he was on hands and knees. Tristen was sitting beside him, drenched, while Yami's regal air was sorely taken away due to his now soaked appearance and slightly flattened hair.

"_I AM DEFEATED._" The voice came without warning, humble and calm as all the others had been, yet this one seemed amused at it's Challengers' predicament. It's voice disappeared quickly, however, giving way for the laughter on the bank that could now so clearly be heard.

"What'd you go running into the river for?!" somebody yelled, laughing historically. It sounded suspiciously like Kaiba, though from the Challenger's low point of view, they could not see who it was. The others were laughing as well, apparently finding the three drenched Challengers amusing.

Saguru stood up, walking out of the water with a somewhat annoyed look on his face, wringing his jacket out with a sigh. Tristen followed him, Yami coming last. They, too, looked rather aggravated, and scanned the laughing Scroll-hunters with annoyance.

It seemed that all of them were laughing, to some extent (with the exception of Kaze, who never seemed to laugh anyway). Some were doubled over, others were leaning on companions to keep from falling, and still others were rolling on the ground, snickering. 

"I don't see what's so funny," Yami said hotly, apparently taking this occurrence as a blow to his pride. 

"Oh...but, see..." Kaeru paused, trying to get breath back into his temporary body's lungs as he leaned heavily on Kawari's shoulder for support. "You were just standing there, and the voice told you to begin, and you just ran into the river!"

To the surprise of all (particularly Kaiba) Saguru burst out laughing as well. "I get it now!" he said cheerfully, grinning. "Must've looked stupid." 

"Just a bit," Kaeru said, still laughing. 

"Well, okay, you've all had your fun," Yami sniffed disdainfully, throwing Kaeru a rather annoyed look, "Now can we get back to work?"

The laughter calmed down considerably, and Saguru moved to retrieve the Scroll, stretching out his hand to reach it where it bobbed lazily above the water. His hand slipped through the bubble that encased the magical item without any trouble, though it felt somewhat oily over his skin; he hastily grabbed the Scroll of Passion and pulled it from it's hold, grinning.

"So that's Scroll number three that we've gotten," he said, grinning. "Here ya go, Kaze." 

The Keeper of the Scrolls took the magical item with a silent nod of thanks, opening it slowly and scanning it's contents before pulling a small piece of parchment from within.

"Well," he said easily, "we have our next riddle, at least."

"Read it! Read it out loud!" The group chorused, only the Negatives and Yami (who had separated with Yugi once more) staying silent. 

"Of course I will," Kaze said, his voice calm, but something about it demanding silence and respect. Once the Scroll hunters had quieted, he cleared his throat and read clearly:

"Of the Fourth Scroll you have need

You will follow where my clue leads.

Tearing wounds not of the skin

Pain causes me, and I cause sin.

All around me, trees stand tall

Will they never bend and fall?

Yet safe am I, shelter o'erhead

Created from the bones of Earth's dead

Deep in icy ground I sleep

Yet within, my bitter rage I keep."

There was a silence for a moment, before Tea gave a small shudder and murmured, "That one sounds creepier than the others."

"Yeah, well, you can't expect all of them to be pleasant," Kawari said, shrugging. He stared up through the fire colored leaves at the sun, which was just beginning to set. "Come on, why don't we head back towards the helicopters we left in the field, and discuss this on the way. It's gonna get dark soon, and those three need dry clothes." He pointed at Saguru, Yami, and Tristen.

The Scroll-hunters agreed that this sounded like a good idea, so after several minutes the group had been organized once more, and they had turned towards the path they'd taken to reach the river. 

"Okay," Kaze called out over the chatter, once the group had gotten moving, "we've all heard the newest verse, and now we have to figure it out. There's an Element in here somewhere, along with a location to the next Scroll, so everybody, start thinking."

That was indeed what each of them had been doing ever since they heard the verse. This was a tricky one, especially since the Element was not said in name, as it had been in the last verse. Still, their minds had become more accustomed to how the riddles worked, since they had already thought their way through three of them, and it seemed easier to pick the riddle apart into it's separate pieces.

They knew, for example, that most of the lines in the middle of the verse were hints as to the location of the next Scroll, while the second, third, and last lines could not give an indication as to a place, and therefore had to mean the Element of the Scroll they searched for. This was confirmed when several of them shared the same idea, and all agreed on the basic structure of the verse.

The problem was, they knew, that the lines themselves were difficult to pull apart. Several of them did not seem to make sense, as Joey kindly pointed out to the rest of the group.

"'Tearing wounds not of the skin?' What the heck is that supposed to mean? And a shelter created from Earth's dead bones? What the heck are Earth's bones? Earth doesn't even _have _bones!"

"As you've so nicely pointed out six times already," Kawari said sarcastically, flicking some of his long white bangs out of his eyes. "Kindly give us a new observation, will you?"

"Hey, d'you wanna mess?" Joey growled angrily, before turning to see who the speaker was. Kawari raised an eyebrow, as if to ask, 'What, with me?' to which Joey replied hastily, "Hah hah, er, just jokin' with ya."

"Riiight," the Negative Ryou muttered, vaguely confused at the reaction, but too focused on the riddle to dwell on it for long.

Tea was muttering the lines that seemed to have a connection with the Element under her breath. "'Tearing wounds not of the skin'...'pain causes me, and I cause sin'...'yet within, my bitter rage I keep.' " Thinking carefully, she tried to find a connection between the two, muttering softly. "Pain causes...erm...wounds...no, there aren't any wounds, that's what the line before that says...hmm....pain causes...fear? No, that's not an Element. Hmm...distrust? No...anger, maybe?" Her head shot up suddenly, startled. 

Kaze was walking along quietly when he suddenly felt somebody grab his arm, shaking it to get his attention. Curious, he looked down to find Tea staring up at him, a look of determination on her face. 

"Kaze, what were the last four Elements we had left to get?"

The Negative Seto thought quickly for a moment before murmuring, "Time, Hatred, Fate, and Death."

"I knew it!" Tea cried triumphantly, grinning widely. "I know the next Element!"

The others were listening closely now, excited at the possible discovery. Kaze asked quickly, "Which one, and how do you know?"

"It's Hatred," Tea said, sounding so sure on the matter that no one chose to disagree with her. "See, it fits all the lines. 'Tearing wounds not of the skin.' Hatred in a person causes them to think differently, to resent others; it ruins their life, and that's a wound for their existence, but it's not a visible one, like a cut! And the next line: 'Pain causes me, and I cause sin.' When a person is hurt in some way, be it physically, mentally, spiritually, _anything, _it causes them to hate the one who hurt them--and in return, they begin to try and hurt that person back, _causing sin._" She grinned; she was on a role now. "And the last line practically describes it for us. 'Yet within, my bitter rage I keep.' How else could you describe bitter rage? _Hatred!_"

"Well, that clears that up, then," Saguru said cheerfully. "Thanks, Tea, you got my opposite to stop sending me annoying messages through our mind link." This was obviously said jokingly, as Joey stuck his tongue out at his Negative but did nothing else.

"Now all we have to do is figure out _where _it is," Kaiba added, with an exasperated sigh.

They reached the field that the helicopters had been left in at that point, and the group divided into two as before, piling into the choppers with Kaiba and Kaze piloting. They headed back towards Domino, but did not head for KaibaCorp, where they had started from; instead, Kaiba radioed into the second helicopter, saying they might as well head to his mansion for the night, seeing as it was getting dark and it would make a decent base of operations for the Scroll-hunters. Everyone agreed, and the helicopters soon touched down on the True Seto's private landing area. 

The group of twelve then piled out of the choppers, heading after Kaiba and Mokuba into the gigantic house. They were led into a comfortable room that seemed to be a cross between an office and a library--it had plenty of chairs and a wide area, plus a computer sitting in the corner in case of needed research. 

The search was called to a momentary halt as Yugi, Yami, and Tristen headed back home for new, dry clothes; Joey took his opposite to his own house, offering to share some of his own wardrobe, seeing as there would be no problem with sizes. Before they left, Kaiba offered to allow all of the Scroll-hunters to spend the night, seeing as the search was going to be taking a while (though when his kindness was regarded with surprise, he claimed that he was only doing it to get the search over with as quickly as possible). All the guests agreed, and there was a flurry of teens calling their parents to tell them where they would be. 

When Yugi, Yami, Saguru, Joey, and Tristen had returned, the twelve Scroll-hunters gathered around the small slip of parchment once more, looking over the remaining mysterious words with careful concentration.

"Well, lines five and six aren't too hard," Kaeru said after a few minutes, shrugging. "'All around me, trees stand tall. Will they never bend and fall?' It's pretty obvious--wherever the Scroll of Hatred is hidden, there's a ring of trees that grow around it, and they must be pretty old and big, considering that the verse is questioning their size."

"Mm, I have to agree," Yami said, nodding, having since forgotten that the tomb robber had laughed at his plight in the river and talking nicely to him again. "The second to last line is fairly easy as well--'deep in icy ground I sleep.' It means, without question, that the Scroll has been buried."

"So then," Mokuba piped up, "the only two lines we really haven't solved are 'Yet safe am I, shelter o'erhead, Created from the bones of Earth's dead.' Er..." he looked around at the others, frowning. "Any idea what Earth's dead bones are?"

There was a collective shaking of heads from the group, and Mokuba sighed. "Darn."

Ryou, however, had not shaken his head. "I think," he said softly, frowning slightly, "that I've heard this before."

Eleven heads turned towards him quickly. "What?!"

The white-haired True being quickly explained. "I think I've heard references to Earth's bones before. You all know how my dad's an archeologist..." the others nodded, none of them noticing the slight twitch of surprise displayed by Kawari. "Well," Ryou continued, having not noticed either, "he went to Greece once, and he brought me back this book of Ancient Greek myths. There was one in it that was sort of like a version of Noah's Ark, but there was a reference to 'throwing Mother Earth's bones' over the characters' shoulders' [1]. And the bones...were rocks!"

The group was gaping at him now, startled, but Kaze suddenly spoke. 

"It makes perfect sense...rocks _are _bones, to the planet Earth...it's brilliant!"

"So then," Tristen mused, "a shelter created overhead from rocks would be...a cave!"

The group seemed suddenly filled with an explosive energy; they had solved the next riddle already!

"Okay," Mokuba repeated carefully, committing all the facts to memory. "We're looking for a cave surrounded by a ring of old trees, and the Scroll of Hatred should be buried in the cave somewhere."

Joey was grinning widely, his blonde hair flopping into his face more than usual from his excitement. "Great! Hey, Kaiba, got another location for us in that brain of yours?"

Kaiba gave a disdainful snort at being talked to in such a way by somebody he despised, but he covered it up with some effort, keeping to his promise, and said slowly, "Maybe."

"Whadya mean, 'maybe?'"

"What I mean," Kaiba said flatly, "is that I think the reserve up North that the museum is working with may have caves. It seemed to imply that in the articles, anyway."

He was met with several blank stares from the True Realm beings, and curious looks from the Negative. Sighing, he muttered, "Don't tell me you don't know about the reserves."

"Alright," Joey said, shrugging. "We won't."

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Okay, the Negatives I can understand, because they're from a different Realm and obviously things happen differently there. But _you _guys," he said disdainfully, looking around at the other True Realm beings, "don't you _ever _pay attention to the news?"

"Not constantly," Yugi replied truthfully. "I mean, some stuff in the news has been important, but..." he let it hang.

The True Seto sighed, shaking his head. "There was a huge article a few months ago about some land up north that seemed to hold large quantities of ancient artifacts. The Domino Museum was interested in the discoveries, and took control over the area, providing lots of funding for the activities that went on up there. You know, digging, studying, and the like. They also wanted to protect the area, so they turned it into a reserve."

"Oh." Most of the True Realm beings now looked interested, though seemed as if they'd never heard the story in their lives. Kaiba seemed to be fighting the urge to shout 'you're all pathetic,' but he held his tongue. 

"So...you think there are caves up in these reserves?" Joey asked, curious.

"I believe so. I've never actually been there, but the articles I read _did _mention caves a few times." He shrugged. "It's our best bet, in any case."

"We'll just have to head up there, then," Kaze said, sounding determined. 

"Now?" Seto asked, looking at his opposite as if he was crazy. "At _night?_ Do you realize how hard it would be to get into that private property? Not easy, let me tell you."

Kaze, in reply, coughed into his hand, looking as though he was trying to suppress a laugh. "Need I remind you who we _are?_ You have a lot of power at your back; use it."

Kaiba rolled his eyes, but said nothing, apparently not sure how to reply to this very true fact.

So it was that, fifteen minutes later, the group had split in two and was climbing into the helicopters once more. It was nearly dark out, with faint wisps of pink, red, and orange in the sky on the horizon, but beyond that, dark. The lights of the helicopters were turned on, and soon the forty-five minute flight to the reserves was under progress.

The flight was rather uneventful, save for the chatter in both choppers concerning what would happen next as far as Challenges and Scrolls went, and they had soon touched down in the now-empty dirt lot outside the gates to the reserve.

"Okay," Kaiba muttered to the rest of the group, once they were all gathered together again. "I want to make this as smooth as possible, so Kaeru and Yami? Back to your soul rooms for the moment." The spirits nodded, flickering out of existence quickly, and Kaiba continued. "Now, Ryou and Kawari, you'll have to play twins again. Saguru and Joey will have to do the same. And since you're taller, you two," he added, talking to the pair of blondes, "you'll have to take the job of making sure Kaze doesn't get seen. We can't have them questioning two Kaibas; if news gets out that I have a 'twin,' I'll be in trouble and so will the rest of us. Got it? Good. Let me do the talking."

This said, Kaiba turned and strided forwards towards the gate. There was a small building next to it, much like a ranger's building or a guard house, and the CEO approached it casually, the rest of the group behind him. 

"'Ey...where d'you think you're goin'?" Came the rough voice of a guard, as Kaiba neared the gates next to the guard house.

"I need to enter this reserve, if you would be so kind as to open the gate for me," Kaiba replied smoothly, an arrogant air in his voice. 

"And why would I be doin' that, if you please?" the guard said, a small growl in his voice.

"Do you know who I am?" Seto replied flatly. 

"Er..." the guard neared them, shining his flashlight over the CEO, and suddenly gave a gasp of surprise. "You're Seto Kaiba, that company-ownin' teenager."

"Exactly. That should be enough of a reason for you."

The guard lost the awe in his voice, becoming more firm. "Now, see here, I can't let anybody through into the reserve after dark, and even in the day only certain approved officials are allowed in."

Kaiba allowed a growl to enter his voice. "Really? I'll have you know, I have acquaintances back in Domino Museum, and they would not be happy if they realized that they had sent me here to be turned around by the lazy guard at the gate. Of course," he added, straightening slightly, "if you let my companions and I pass the gate so that we may return to our business...perhaps I can let it slide that there was a rude watchman on the way."

"R...right, sir!" the man stuttered, apparently startled at the teenager's sharp words and dangerous attitude. "I...I'll let you through, Mr. Kaiba, sir, just check with us once you leave, okay?"

"Very well," Kaiba said, nodding, "it seems a reasonable request." On sudden inspiration, he added, "You wouldn't happen to have a map of the reserve, would you?"

"Right here, sir," the guard muttered, pulling a folded up piece of paper from his back pocket. "Why, though, Mr. Kaiba?"

"We're only looking for one section of the reserves, and that's all I will tell you--my business is my own."

"Right sir," the man muttered--he was sweating now, though it was the beginning of a rather cool night. "Just...go ahead sir, just remember, check in when you're done, sir."

"Of course." Turning slightly, Kaiba motioned for the others to follow, and they stepped behind him without complaint.

The guard was silent, up until the point when Kawari, Ryou, Saguru, and Joey passed. Scratching his head curiously, the man muttered, "What on _Earth _is with all these twins?"

Kawari could not resist a smart remark, and said casually, "Oh, you know, you don't get twins all that often, so we like to all gather together and hang out. Especially at night, on reserves."

The guard raised an eyebrow, muttering, "Well, I'll be..."

_'Dork,' _Came Kawari's thought through the mind-link to Ryou. The True Hikari fought the urge to burst out laughing at this, and ended up stuffing his fist in his mouth to keep himself quiet.

They passed into the reserves in silence, besides the clang of the gate closing behind them. Once inside, they discovered it was quite dark; the Negatives, however, had had the foresight to bring flashlights, and they calmly handed them out to the others until they seemed to be standing in a large pool of light.

"Okay," Kaiba murmured casually, "we've gotten into the reserve without too much trouble, and now all we have to do is get to the caves." He held his flashlight over the map the guard had given him, studied it for a few minutes, and then turned. "Follow me."

They walked for about ten minutes or so, marveling at the beauty of the land, even if it was quite dark and they couldn't see it quite as well as they could have in daylight. After several minutes, however, Kaiba finally came to a halt, motioning for the others to do so as well.

"We're at the caves," he murmured. "Now all we have to do is find the right one and start digging."

Finding the correct cave was not all that difficult, for most of them were in rocky outcrops and were nowhere _near _trees. However, one rather small natural cave was surrounded by a ring of thick, tall oak trees, and was, without a doubt, the cave they were searching for. Yugi counted the ring of trees when the others weren't looking; thirteen exactly. How foreboding.

Inside the cave, most of the floor consisted of stone; however, near the cave mouth, dirt and soil abounded. The Twelve set to work digging, using sticks, their hands, or any other sharp objects that could be put to use (though Joey nearly lost a hand when he asked Kawari if they could use _Gin Hebi _as a shovel). 

Kaiba, however, was looking increasingly uneasy, and was staring around the surrounding land with a frown. Slowly, he circled the cave once, then bent down, examining marks along the cave sides, on the tree bark, and the soil. Each time he closely checked a particular area, his uneasy frown became stronger. 

Finally, the True CEO gave a small groan, shaking his head. "Stop digging."

"What?" Mokuba asked, startled at the command. "But...but we've found the location of the next Scroll!"

"No we haven't," Kaiba sighed. "This was a pointless attempt."

"Why?" The others had stopped their activities now and were glancing at Kaiba in confusion.

"Just look around," Seto muttered moodily. "The trees have been marked, the soil's been disturbed and turned. People have already been here."

"How on earth can you tell from looking at _dirt?_" Joey asked flatly.

"Just look, _Joey,_" Kaiba growled angrily, biting back the insult on his tongue. "The soil's been turned, and dirt that was on lower layers has been exposed to the air for several months. It's more weathered than it should be. That means somebody's dug here already." He turned to the trees. "Furthermore, this oak right here has an 'X' cut into it, like a marker. The people have observed here already. The museum got here before us."

"No...no way!" several of the True beings yelled, startled. "There's...just....no way!"

"Oh, there is," Kaiba said flatly. "It's my guess that our Scroll of Hatred is sitting in a display case in the Domino Museum right now."

There was an all-around startled reaction to this statement, and for a moment everyone was plunged into silence. Then, very softly, almost tentatively, Yugi murmured, "Well...if it's at the museum...why can't we ask Isis to give it to us?"

Seto shook his head. "It doesn't work that way. Isis is in charge of the _Egyptian _exhibits, because they're hers, and she represents the Egyptian government in that aspect," he explained. "She has nothing to do with the rest of the museum's artifacts."

Yugi looked, if possible, even more shocked at this. Then, very slowly, his muttered, "But...but if we can't get the Scroll from the museum _willingly_...then...then that means we'd have to _steal _it!" He frowned unhappily, obviously not pleased with coming to such a result.

The group stood in silence for what seemed like an age. Then, abruptly, but in near unison, each and every head turned to look at Kaeru.

The ancient tomb robber grinned and stretched his hands out in front of him, lacing his fingers together and cracking them in a lazy-looking way. "It's been some time since I've had a good theft assignment," he said, chuckling lightly. "Shall we start planning?"

*****

[1] This really is a true Greek/Roman myth. Supposedly, a man and a woman were commanded by the gods to build a ship while the evil of the rest of their race was wiped out. Then they were commanded to throw the bones of their mother over their shoulders to give birth to the new human race. They had to figure out that the 'bones of their mother' was actually referring to mother Earth, not their flesh-and-blood mothers, and then they tossed rocks over their shoulders. The rocks turned into people. Weird, I know, but I love Greek and Roman mythology none the less. That's why I take Latin ^_~

*****

Kaiba: And according to HCG's notes, that concludes today's chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it, because I sure didn't. *grumbles at any version of Joey getting more to do than he does.*

Kawari: *rolls eyes*

Kaeru: Come on, guys, you're missing the game!

*Kawari and Kaiba run over to the earlier mentioned card table, at which HCG and Yami are currently sitting. They are playing the age old, well known game of..._Uno._*

HCG: *gleefully places one of her two remaining cards down* Wild Card. I say red, and _Uno!_

Yami: *panicking and looking over his twenty-five or so cards* *gasps in relief and places a Wild Card down on the table, grinning* Blue!

HCG: *gleefully tosses her last card, which was blue, down on the table* HAH! I made you change the color for me! I knew you must have Wild in there somewhere!

Yami: _;; Whatever.

HCG: Come on, add up the points, what do you have?

Yami: *counts* 387 x_X;;

HCG: *writes it down on the pad of paper* Than that makes 643 to 0...I win again! ^_^

Yami: Er...8 out of 15? o_O;;;

HCG: WHO'S THE GREATEST GAME MASTER EVER NOW?!

Yami: .......I refuse to let the words pass my lips.

HCG: Fine, be stubborn, but you'll have to say it soon. In the meantime, I'll answer reviews.

****

Magical Mage ~ Well, what do you think? You came the closest to answering the third riddle correctly...you mentioned the river and Passion together. Good job ^_~

****

Aibou ~ Aw, 'tis okay, I made the riddles confusing on purpose. XD, Kaze is smart and he knows it.

Kaze: -_-;; I don't brag about it though, unlike my opposite.

Kaiba: Why not boast my genius skills? I'm awesome! ^_~

Kaze: Whatever you say.

****

Daricio ~ Holy crap, that's the longest review I've ever gotten. O_O;; I print my reviews out, and it took up...*counts* Two and a half pages o_O; Well anyway. *waves to Darika* You had some interesting ideas about the riddle--I always love reading peoples' theories on them. It's fun ^_^

****

Silver Fang ~ Puns ARE so fun! I wuv them to death! Although I don't think there are a lot in here (although I did make a lot of dumb jokes in parentheses towards the end of the fic, because I was bone tired and had a rather odd sense of humor. I don't think Kawari would actually slice off Joey's hand, of course...then again, I could be wrong, you never know with Kawari when _Gin Hebi _is concerned). And YES I did play a game with Yami, and lookit lookit, I WON!

****

Trinity Star ~ Wow, you have a lot of gadgets. The Truly Universal Remote...the Plot Tranquilizer...Oh, and I know what loosing a writing book would be like. I happen to use one too, and every time I get an idea I jot it down. I'm also sure my muses will behave quite well now, lest they desire to get torn apart by their beloved fangirls. ^_^

Kawari, Kaeru, Kaze, & Kaiba: O_O;;;;;

****

Anonymous ~ Glad you like my ficcie. No prob with the "very's," I often find myself repeating words (you should see chapter rough drafts. Scary-ful!) Ugh, sorry about the chapter longness; I knew somebody wasn't gonna like it. Here's the problem; I try to keep it short, but I have an outline with everything that's supposed to happen in each chapter already written out. The info's carefully balanced so you don't find things out too early, and the like. Unfortunately, from the time that I wrote the outline to now, my writing skills have improved. Thus, things that were only supposed to be 16 pages ended up being 33 (as was the case with Chapter 9). Anyway. Sorry again about the length; I'll try to keep it shorter if I can, but I'm not sure if it's possible.

****

Wingleader Sora Jade ~ Meh heh heh, so much to comment on here! Okay, firstly, I'm actually _very _sorry that I forgot to mention Kawari's cameo in YoTU:F. I was going to mention it originally, but by the time I wrote in my author's notes for Ch. 8, it was 12:30 at night and my brain had forgotten almost everything except the need for sleep. ^_^;; Sorry 'bout that.

Yes, NR Malik and NR Isis are very much alive and well (though Malik has a nice scar in his shoulder now, to go along with those carvings x_X;;). I was originally going to explain in the chapter, but I didn't have enough time, so here's a short summary: NR Yami went into the tombs to get the spells he was after, and some of Malik's hunters (who are still hunters, but not 'rare hunters;' they're Malik's followers) managed to find the three who had faced that crazy yami and bring them back to the Egyptian base for medical treatment. Yami got the spells though. *pout* Stupid meanie-head. And I'm glad you noticed my difference with Isis. Malik doesn't seem _too _different yet, but that's cause I'm trying to conserve his personality until the sequel to this sequel, when he becomes a vital character.

As for Ryou and Serenity...they do make a cute couple in your fics, I agree ^_~ However, in the Negative Realm, you'd find that a Ryou/Serenity pairing would be next to impossible. See, Serenity is friends with Amane, and so Kawari sort of takes it upon himself to look out for his sister, and therefore her best friends. So Kawari sees Serenity as more of a younger sister, and less as a possible girlfriend.

Kaeru: Plus, HCG can't write romance for her life, and would butcher a good couple's romantic progress. XD.

HCG: _;; Shut uuuup!

****

bakurakrazie ~ You're in luck; I actually _am _writing a trilogy. The third story in the series is currently being pulled together; at the moment it's just a bunch of random ideas that I have to organize. Never fear, the Negative Realm adventures will not be ending anytime soon!

****

Drachen Yami ~ You read Shadow Turned Light too, hmm? That's good at least; I have a sneaking suspicion that SOME of my readers have not read the first of the series. *glances around suspiciously* Must've been a shock for you, though, to find 8 chapters of a story up ^_^ Well, hope you enjoyed this one!

****

Sakura ~ Glad you liked my story. Unfortunately, I can't fill your first request--I have trouble reading fics I started a month ago, as it is. If I ever get time, I'll try to get around to it, but I don't think it'll be happening very soon. Sorry. At least I filled request number two ^_^

****

NeoChaosCrystal ~ Kawari says he's scared of you. I'm relaying the message, since he refuses to stand within one hundred feet of somebody who's trying to hunt him ^_^;; Or drools over him. Though most girls seem to do that. *snicker* Got to see more of Saguru too in this. And doncha like Kaze more, saving Saguru's life like that?

Also...DING DING DING DING! You're my 100th reviewer! I promised a prize to the 100th, and here it is! First: *gives her a Kawari plushie* Second: You will get a goody basket of chocolate, candy, and other sweets at the end of this review...delivered by Kawari, since he seems to be your favorite character ^_^

Kawari: Why do you torture me so, HCG...

HCG: It's fun, that's why!

****

LoneWolf16 ~ Love the gem comparison...very pretty ^_~ And it made me excited and hyper too. XD. Thank you for being sympathetic to my computer troubles, also. Ooh, you think my story has everything? *reads over list* Action, hells yes, mystery, gotta have it, fate of Realms...^_^ My own personal touch! Dirk...

Kawari: *defensively* MY DIRK!

HCG: o_O;; okay....Kawari's dirk...fighting, well of course, I love fighting and people say I do it well ^_^ and Riddles...I always love riddles in fics, don't you? And speaking of riddles, hah hah, you noticed the pattern! The first one to do so, if I'm not much mistaken. Good job ^_~ Kaze's your fave, too, hmm? Heh, he's tied as my fave Negative character (along with Kawari, who I enjoy writing about because of his insanely complicated personality). And finally...*looks up at chapter* o_O Think it's long enough for a long review? I hope so ^_^

HCG: Anyway, that's all of the replies. DAMN, were there a lot of reviews for 8. I suppose that happens when you leave it on hold for two months. X_X;;

*back at card table, HCG is still badgering Yami to admit she's the game queen*

Yami: *flatly* I won't.

HCG: Yes you will!

Yami: But you're not the Queen of Games!

HCG: Yes I am!

Yami: No you're not!

HCG: Yes I am!

Yami: No you're not!

HCG: No I'm not!

Yami: Yes you are!

Kaze: -_-;; That's an old trick, Pharaoh, I'm surprised you fell for it.

Yami: O_O;; Oops...

HCG: HAH HAH, even Yami admits it! I'm Queen of Games!

Yami: -_-;; I hate you all...

HCG: On a final note, here's a question for you all. If I started a contest, would you join it? The reason I ask is because I don't want to work hard to come up with all the contest rules and stuff if only three people are gonna join. So answer me in your reviews--would you join a contest if I started it? (Keep in mind--this would be Negative Realm related. If you went in this contest, you will be writing about Negative characters. It's fun for you and helpful for me--I get to see how you all perceive my characters, and that helps me with my writing). 

Anyway. Review, and answer the contest question! See yas in Chapter 10!


	10. The Prize of Hatred

***AGAIN. I'm very, very sorry for the extreme lateness of this chapter. It all just got out of hand, if you know what I mean. School started, and I think I've put myself in too many tough courses--Honors Algebra II was killing me, until I finally got smart and dropped to a lower level--and Latin isn't being too friendly either. And then there was a period when I moved to my new room, and my computer was temporarily NOT hooked up, so my writing came to a standstill. And of course, there was that age-old writers' enemy--Writer's Block. Anyway. Enough excuses. To the Chapter!***

*we focus on HCG, who is busily scribbling with her brand-new, undestroyed editing pen on a sheet of paper. She looks up, blinks, grins, and then adds the finishing touches to the paper. A second later, a rather confused Saguru appears with a poof of random smoke*

Saguru: @_@;; Whaaaa? What am I doing here?

HCG: ^~ You're the requested guest of the chapter, silly! You had to be here to say hello to your few loyal fans!

Saguru: O_o I have loyal fans?

HCG: Well...DUH. Why else would you be requested? *rolls eyes*

Saguru: X_x I dunno...

HCG: *cough* ANYWAY! Hello all, and welcome to Chapter 10 of Negative Chaos. Yeah, that's right, it's Chapter _10 _and it's actually _up!_ Whoooo! *fireworks go off, flags wave, a parade marches by, and hell freezes over* 

Kaze: *sweatdrop*

Kaiba: O_o;;;;;

HCG: And furthermore, after...a _really _long time...I've finally gotten Kawari back from NeoChaosCrystal! Whoooo!

Kawari: -_-; I hate you, HCG. Never, ever, EVER put me NEAR another rabid fangirl again.

HCG: Aw, it couldn't have been that bad, could it have?

Kawari: *flatly* I was stuck in a small, dark closet for a few _months._ One of her muses tried to take _Gin Hebi _away from me. *goes sarcastic* Of _course _it wasn't that bad.

HCG: Knew you'd agree with me!

Kawari: ¬_¬;;

Saguru:....I'm not even going to ask.

Kaze: *starts rather suddenly* WAIT a minute, Saguru...if you're HERE, then who's back at base in charge?!

Saguru: OO;; Uh oooh...*flash to Duke and Pegasus, arguing loudly with each other over who should take the role of leader next, while other main Opposition leaders cower under the tables and avoid trying to be seen*

Kaze: *groan* Dear lord...

Kawari: *hastily* Let's just get to the story already, okay?!

HCG: *cough* Er...right...but before that, two major notes. First, all individual review notes have been moved _to t_he end of the chapter from now on. I liked how it worked out last time; get Straight to the story, y'know? And secondly--my contest is officially up! That's right, enough of you said you wanted to join, so I've written up the rules. The links are posted on my bio, near the end. Go read, plan, and write! And have fun! ^_^ And hurry, 'cause you've already got competition. Six authors/authoresses have already submitted their entry fics, so you'd better get a move on, all the rest of you.

Kaiba: And note that the deadline is January 1st. New fics may not be submitted after that.

HCG: *cough* Anyway. I suppose we should start the story now, hmm? *rubs hands gleefully together* And boy, is this chapter ever gonna be fun...*evil cackle* KAIBA! DISCLAIMER!

Kaiba: *sigh* High Crystal Guardian does not own Yu-Gi-Oh of it's characters. Guardian does not own the Seven Elements, either, which belong to Wingleader Sora Jade. Guardian _does _own the Negative Realm, it's characters, theories, and anything else related, as well as the Realm Scrolls that are connected to the Elements.

HCG: Perfect. Well now, shall we move on?

Notes:

****

Kawari ~ NR Ryou

****

Kaeru ~ NR Bakura

****

Kaze ~ NR Kaiba

****

Saguru ~ NR Joey

word ~ Kawari to Kaeru, via mind link

word ~ Kaeru to Kawari, via mind link

__

italicized words are thoughts or dreams/memories

Note that Kawari would naturally call Kaeru "yami;" don't get the title confused with the Pharaoh. ^^;;

Anything in particular? Oh yes. WSJ, I threw in a little reference to your _Tales_, because it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. XD. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Also, the Challenge...yes, it is split up a lot, as you'll see when you get down there, and the 5-star asterisk breaks come up a lot...but don't panic. It's just because the three Challengers are all spread out. You'll see what I mean later ^~

And I feel I'm obligated to put this in: 

****

Warning: Do not attempt to read if you have better things to do! This chapter is EXTREMELY LONG, even by MY standards, but I can't split it in half or anything because this is all scheduled to be in THIS chapter. So, yeah, just a warning to you all....*sweatdrop* have an hour...or two...free before trying to read this'un...

Anything else? Nope! Okay then, read and enjoy!

****

Negative Chaos

Chapter 10: Prize of Hatred

"But I still don't understand...why are there _two _of you, Mr. Kaiba?" A mechanical, slightly feminine voice asked for the tenth time, sounding partly annoyed and partly frustrated--as if it was looking forward to a good bit of gossip and had lost the opportunity to get it.

"Oh, shut up and forget about it. Get back to work," Kaiba hissed irritably, staring up at the large computer situated in the Kaiba Mansion--one which, while the fastest in the entire household, also had artificial intelligence, and was rather nosey.

"Hmph. All this work I do for you and you won't explain _one little thing _to me," the feminine voice of the computer grumped, sounding angry. Kaiba just rolled his eyes and tapped his fingers impatiently on the keyboard. Kaze, behind him, looked slightly amused.

The group of twelve Scroll Hunters were situated back at Kaiba's mansion, where they had returned from the reserve only an hour beforehand. They had landed back at the mansion with determined spirits, although some were rather uneasy about the task set before them--to steal something from the Museum seemed wrong, even if it _was _necessary, and it went against the morale codes of many there. Still, they knew it had to be done, and were prepared to help in any way possible in order to get the deed accomplished.

The Negatives had not wasted a second upon landing; as soon as the helicopters touched down on the ground, Kawari, Kaeru, Saguru, and Kaze had leapt from them, striding with a purpose towards the mansion. The others followed at a slower pace, walking after the Negatives into the gigantic household, wondering what the intent of the other-Realmers was. 

The answer had become clear soon enough. Kaze had asked quickly where Kaiba kept his strongest computer, looking every inch the Opposition Leader he was. Kaiba had answered him with a slight frown, asking afterwards, "But shouldn't you know? I mean...we _are _the same person, and I assume if you are _also _the CEO of KaibaCorp, then you live in the same house that I do."

"I _did,_" Kaze had answered, somewhat dryly. "When Yami decides you're his enemy, you don't get to stay in your home for long." 

It was all too clear what that was supposed to mean--Yami had grimaced angrily at the sentence--so the subject was dropped hastily, and the group of twelve had followed after Kaiba, Kaze, and the remaining Negatives towards the computer in question.

On coming upon the computer, Kaiba had turned it on with apparent boredom, although most of the remaining True Realm members--with the exception of Mokuba--had looked awed or stunned at the sight of the giant computer. They had been even more awestruck when it began chatting with Kaiba, as if it were alive, in it's slightly feminine voice. The Negatives had not looked particularly surprised--although it was hard to tell with them, they hid their expressions too well--and Kaze had even looked interested ("Mine was more polite than yours...before it was destroyed, anyway," he had explained). 

Then the long research had begun, using the complex, strong computer to it's highest extent, looking for anything at all possible on the Domino City Museum's security records, floor plans, and other information of the like. Kaze and Kaiba had become the main searchers, with Kaeru standing by and observing all the collected data with a practiced eye--and a slight smirk, as though he were looking forward to his assignment.

That was how they were found an hour later, when the computer had asked them yet again about the two versions of Kaiba. It had been explained to the machine once before, in a hastily summarized and shortened version, but the computer seemed to realize it wasn't getting all the information and was constantly trying to work it out of them. This was starting to make Kaiba irritable, explaining his annoyed mood and rather snappish attitude.

"Here's another important piece," Kaze murmured, running over a quick list that had shown up on one of the many screens, which listed several artifacts in the Museum and their date of entry into the building. He carefully set the document aside in the computer for future reference before returning to the seemingly endless research with a patient determination.

"Good," Kaiba muttered back, eyes flickering over a document that had just been produced by the computer on the Museum. He discarded it after a few moments, finding nothing of use in it, before opening another document and beginning to read that one, as well. "How much more do you think we'll need?"

Kaze shrugged. "Not much, I think. It's really up to Kaeru; he knows how much detail he needs for his assignments."

Kaiba turned momentarily to stare at Kaeru, as if asking, _How much more do you think you'll need?_ The Negative tomb robber, in turn, shrugged and said, "Like Kaze said...not much more." Kaiba sighed and nodded, returning to his research, while Kaeru's head turned to look over the remaining Scroll Hunters outside the small room that held the computer.

The nine remaining members of the Scroll hunting group were lounging in the room outside that which held the computer, chatting and swapping stories. The room was considerably cheerier than it had been the last time Kaiba had stayed there for long--namely, the time when he'd been on the run from Pegasus and had hidden in his own computer room to help Yugi--and Yami--win a duel against an imposter version of himself. Then, the room had been dull and dark, a library that had fallen into disuse, and served as nothing more than storage for unwanted books and a nice hideout for his top-of-the-line computer. Now, it was bright and cheerful, with light flooding from the lamps and dust cleared from the room. Several chairs were scattered around the room, which the Scroll searchers were using to sit in while they waited for Kaiba and Kaze to finish with their research. 

Yami noticed Kaeru's gaze sweeping the unoccupied Scroll hunters, and he frowned slightly at the laid-back expression on the ancient thief's face. "How on earth can you be so _calm _about what you have to do?" the spirit asked flatly, looking and sounding slightly annoyed.

Kaeru laughed. "Oh, trust me, Pharaoh, after half the stuff I've had to break into for the Opposition--the most memorable being your own base, when Yugi came to our Realm--this theft'll be a piece of cake. I'm not too worried about it, other than the amount of time it'll take."

Yami sighed and rolled his eyes. "I suppose old habits die hard, even for a kinder version of a grave robber." Kaeru shot him an annoyed glare, but said nothing in return.

Another half hour passed in such a way, Kaze and Kaiba searching rapidly for any useful information, with Kaeru looking on, and the remaining Scroll searchers waiting--at varying levels of patience--for them to finish, so that a plan of action could be made. 

At last, Kaze stood straight, looking pleased, and said calmly, "Okay, Kaeru, we've got everything you'll need." Kaiba nodded in agreement, collecting several pages and maps from where they had finished printing, and handing them to Kaeru.

The tomb robber grinned, flicking through the pages quickly before turning back to the beginning to read them more thoroughly. "Perfect," He muttered after a few moments, his face and tone becoming more serious. "Right, I'll get down to work on this."

The twelve moved back to their original room, the main library, leaving behind the now-shut-down computer and smaller room in favor of the spacier, more recognizable larger one. Kaeru immediately sat down at one of the large tables in the room, spreading out the pages over it's surface, while the others sat down in the comfortable, soft chairs and couches, continuing their conversations. 

During the forty-five minutes in which Kaeru planned on his own, several topics flickered back and forth between True and Negative Realm beings. Dueling was a strong topic between them all, one that most of them could relate to in one way or another, and most of them shared their records of wins and losses, some retelling their more memorable duels. Indeed, Kaze had such an impressive record from his time when he still dueled--though he was rather modest about it--that Kaiba had been all for allowing his opposite to borrow his deck in a duel against Yami, to see who really was the better between Realms. Kaze had declined politely, saying that he doubted he would have been able to win against Yami, the Game King, in any event. (Yami had looked slightly disappointed at the decline, as well, though it was hard to say exactly why). 

After some time, Kaeru finally returned to the rest of the group, holding in his hands a few sheets of paper from the stack handed to him, along with a notepad and a pencil. "Okay," he said calmly, looking over the group with what almost looked like an eager interest, "I've gone through all of the papers--" at this, he indicated the large stack, "--and I've planned out everything that we'll need for this little stunt. It's a bit messy due to the rushed time, but I'm sure we'll manage perfectly well." 

"Great!" Joey said, looking part cheerful, as though he was attempting to forget that they were trying to steal something. "What now?"

Kaeru shrugged. "I just have to pick out my team and we'll be all set."

Most of the True Realm members blinked at this. "Your _team?_" Tristan asked, finally, raising an eyebrow.

The grave robber chuckled. "I see we're not that familiar with the term, or at least, not in this context?"

Tristan gave a slight sheepish grin. "Heh...I guess...I'm not the expert thief here, remember."

Kaeru shrugged. "Well, in any case...I need to pick my team. The people that will be going with me on this mission, and helping me to perform it. It's dangerous to go on a theft mission like this with less than one person...if you don't have backup, you get into trouble." 

"Oh," came the now-understanding replies of the members of the True Realm. 

"I must warn you all now, though," Kaeru said, looking serious, "on this mission, what I say, goes, especially for those going in with me. I call the shots, and you carry them out, got it?" He gave Kaze a side glance quickly, looking almost as though he were asking a question; Kaze looked slightly reluctant, but nodded ever so slightly, as though giving his permission. The others nodded as well, understanding.

"Well then," Kaeru said, his eyes already flickering over the eleven other people sitting in front of him, "if that's all cleared up, I'll choose my team. I'll need two others besides myself, I think...any more would get us caught, but any less could be considered foolish." He mused for a split second before murmuring, "I'll be taking my own aibou, of course...his skills in the art of theft match mine closely and are too valuable to waste...and I think the last one will be--"

"_Hold _on," Joey hissed, startled, leaping from his over stuffed chair and coming to a stand. "What did you just say about Kawari?"

Kaeru raised an eyebrow, looking at Joey as though he'd gone crazy. "I said his theft skills were nearly as good as mine."

The other beings from the True Realm looked startled too, particularly Ryou, although Joey looked nearly surprised as the True hikari. "There's no _way!_" the blonde teen yelped, startled. "There's just...no..._way_...that _Ryou_ could be a _thief_...and a _good _one at that!" 

Ryou looked partially hurt, and partially confused, at this statement, but Kawari just looked annoyed and angry. "_Excuse _me?" the Negative hikari asked flatly, giving Joey a hard stare. 

Joey looked slightly hesitant under the stare, but responded with, "Well...it just doesn't make _sense..._I mean, Ryou doesn't steal...Ryou is...well..._Ryou!_"

"Oh, well said," Kaiba muttered irritably at the back of the group, but he was barely heard as Kawari chose to speak at that moment.

"So a Ryou can't be a thief, huh?" Kawari asked, raising an eyebrow high and staring with an unbreaking gaze towards Joey. "Well, if that's the case," he added, after receiving only silence from the blonde teen, "then how on _Earth _did I get this?" He held up his right, black-gloved hand, twirling what looked like a golden band around his index finger. The band was recognized moments later as an expensive-looking watch, and it's bright gold color stood out shockingly well against the black glove that held it. 

Joey's eyes widened in shock, before he muttered, "Hey...that's my limited edition Duel Monsters watch!" he yelped, startled. "I won it at a smaller tournament they held a few weeks ago...but..." Startled, he turned his gaze to Kawari. "How'd you get it?"

Kawari shrugged, faking boredom, although the amused glitter in his eyes told otherwise. "I found it in your pocket," he said, grinning slightly.

Joey blinked in surprise, looking rather comical in his uncertain expression, but then his face broke into a grin and he chuckled. "Okay, you got me, fair and square," he said, laughing slightly. "I was wrong and you were right. Damn, and you got that out of my pocket? I never even felt anything!"

Kawari flicked his hand casually, sending the prized watch through the air for Joey to catch. "That's the point, isn't it?" he asked, also chuckling slightly, as he watched the blonde teen replace the watch in his pocket--in a decidedly more secure manner.

Kaeru, during all of this, had been laughing loudly, finding amusement in the shocked expressions of the True Realm beings, particularly that of Joey, as well as the jaunty manner of his hikari. The grave robber's laughter had gotten so strong by the end of the conversation that he ended up leaning on Yami--who was decidedly shorter than him--and using the ex-Pharaoh as an armrest so that he could laugh without collapsing. The ancient ruler was not particularly happy with this, friend that Kaeru was or not, and an extremely annoyed expression had passed over his face, which was rather stony as he waited for Kaeru's fit of laughter to slow down. 

Kaeru had quieted slightly by the time Joey asked, grinning, "so, where'd you learn how to do that, Kawari?"

The Negative hikari rolled his eyes in a rather sarcastic manner. "If you have a tomb robber for a guardian spirit, you're bound to pick up a few tricks in your lifetime, like it or not." 

Kaze chuckled as well, looking somewhat amused. "Ah, but don't pretend and throw them off, Kawari. You think it's interesting, don't you?"

Kawari gave him a dry look. "You're seriously going to ruin my reputation for me, Kaze." The Blue Eyes just laughed.

"_If _we could get back to business?" Yami asked in a huff, attempting to make a grab at his dignity, now that Kaeru had stopped leaning on him for support during his laughter. "There is still the matter of the third team member."

"Right," Kaeru said, still grinning slightly. "Okay, now I've been thinking over the qualities that have to fit the third person, and it came to mind while I was thinking--what about the Challenge?"

Tea frowned. "What about it?"

The ancient tomb robber shrugged. "Well, keep in mind...we _are _going after a Realm Scroll. I highly doubt that the protector of the Scroll of Hatred is going to let us walk out of the museum first before taking the Challenge. I'd guess we're going to be forced to take it right then and there--which means we still need a True Realm being in our theft team, so that the Balance of True and Negative in a Challenge is complete."

Kaiba nodded. "It's logical." He shrugged. "I guess I could go..."

Kaeru, however, shook his head. "You would have been a great candidate, if you fit all the requirements, but unfortunately, there's a few other things I need to take into account." Kaiba sighed, but nodded, and Kaeru continued. "Kawari and I can handle most of the problems that will come up in the museum, since we're more experienced and can handle this sort of thing, but there are a few sections that we can't take care of--the True Realm person would have to, instead." He looked around at the group slowly. "After taking into account all of the data that Kaiba and Kaze found...the third team member will have to have some experience with technology and computers, and they need to be relatively small for some of the tighter places in our route." 

All eyes immediately turned to Yugi, but the Hikari only shrugged. "Sorry," he murmured. "I'm a little small, yeah, but I'm not _that _great with technology..."

Tristan sighed. "Then who on Earth could do it?"

"Me!" a slightly smaller voice piped up. Startled, the rest of the Scroll Hunters turned to face Mokuba, who was grinning broadly underneath the curtain of thick, black, messy bangs that slipped over his eyes. 

"I'm perfect for the job, see?" Mokuba said, sounding cheerful. "I know lots about computers and stuff, 'cause Seto works with them all the time...and I'm small, so I can get into lots of places. Plus, I've done _lots _of sneaking and escaping before, so I know at least a _little _bit about what I'd be doing!" He grinned up hopefully at the rest of the group, his gray eyes pleading for him that he should be allowed to go on the "mission."

Much to Mokuba's dismay, however, his pleading eyes did not work. Almost at the same time, both Kaiba and Kaze said in flat, commanding voices, "No. You're not going."

"Awww," Mokuba whined, his eyes looking, if possible, even bigger and more pleading. "Please? You _know _I can do this, and that I'm the only one who fits Kaeru's requirements...you _gotta _let me go!"

Kaiba shook his head, seeming for all the world like a parent refusing to let his child go to a concert. "No. Too dangerous. I don't want you to get in trouble."

Kaze, however, frowned slightly, glanced over at Kaeru quickly, and then turned back to Mokuba. His Opposition Leader's mind was running furiously, trying to find some other alternate option, but there was none, and he knew the answer he had to accept. "Well...maybe," he murmured slowly.

Kaiba whirled on him instantly, looking part angry, and part shocked. "What the hell do you mean by that?"

Kaze stared back levelly, not a shred of emotion in his face or on his voice. "I meant what I said. It does make sense to use Mokuba for this mission; he's the best resource we have."

"Are you _crazy?_" Kaiba hissed, his hands unconsciously balling into fists, even though they would have been useless against his opposite.

"No," Kaze said, voice flat, "I'm not. Trust me, there isn't anybody less willing to send Mokuba into this mission than myself--" there was no questioning this statement, due to the Blue Eyes' past, "--but I'm also trying to look out for the fate of the world at the same time. If Mokuba is the person that can help us achieve our goal, then we'll just have to risk sending him and hope for the best. Besides, I trust two of my best agents."

Kaiba looked undecided for a moment, wavering, as though trying to say two different things and ending up in complete silence. After a moment, however, he sighed and nodded, giving his consent. "Fine."

Kaze nodded as well, as if thanking his opposite, but he had barely finished the action before he rounded on Kaeru, eyes cold as glaciers. "However," he hissed, softly, "should anything happen to Mokuba...well...even spirits can feel pain." A blunt, obvious threat, with no attempt to hide it whatsoever.

Kaeru didn't look bothered; rather, he had a calm expression on his face. "Don't worry, Kaze," he assured, "I _am _a guardian spirit, and I won't let a thing happen to him. Mokuba'll be fine."

"Good." Kaze's eyes changed from ice to cool blue orbs almost instantly, and he sat down casually once again. "Well then, if your team is all set, I doubt there is much more you need to go over, other than with them." 

The ancient thief nodded. "Right." He glanced out the window quickly before adding, "We can't leave for a few hours anyway. I want as much cover from the dark as possible--we can't risk being seen, at any cost." 

Yugi checked his watch, saying after a moment's pause, "In two and a half hours it'll be midnight. Is that as good a time to leave as any?"

Kaeru shrugged. "Midnight's a bit predictable. We'll leave at one-thirty, we'll say."

"Four hours, then, until the mission begins," Kaze murmured. "You had better brief Mokuba and Kawari on the situation and your plan, then."

Kaeru did, explaining thoroughly the security systems of the museum, the route that would be taken, and the jobs of each of the three of them. Kawari listened with rapt attention, taking in every detail fed to him quickly and quietly, and Mokuba listened carefully as well, a determined look on his face. Saguru, Kaze, Kaiba, Yugi, and Yami, though not directly involved in the theft, also stayed to listen to the plans, in case they spotted any mistakes or problems (though it was highly doubtful that a Pharaoh would be able to instruct a grave robber in the art of theft). Ryou, Tristan, Tea, and Joey, not much interested in the details of stealing from the Domino Museum, had broken off from the main group and were exploring the library, looking around the gigantic room while they waited for their friends to finish. 

Finally, after a good half hour was eaten from their remaining time, Kaeru nodded and tapped the pages in his hands one final time, saying, "Well...that's that. All we have to do now is wait for the time to pass so we can get down to business." Kawari nodded, looking almost bored at the prospect of a theft, while Mokuba looked determined, excitement shining in his gray eyes. 

Kaiba shrugged. "If we have a few hours to kill, we might as well get something to eat, right?" He looked around at the rest of the group, adding, "I don't think I've seen any of you eat since we got _started _on this stupid Scroll hunt."

"Sounds good to me," Kaze said, though he looked rather absent-minded, as if his mind was still back on the plan, and not thinking of Kaiba's mentioning of food.

The True Realm Seto called one of his servants quickly, and the man came walking at a fast pace towards the wealthy teen. "Yes, sir?" he asked politely, a formal tone in his voice.

"Prepare a dinner for twelve. Nothing too fancy; just enough to feed us all. And make it quick." 

The servant inclined his head politely before answering, "Yes, sir," and turning on his heel, heading for the kitchens.

Dinner was not short in coming, but the wait did kill time. An hour later, the entire band of twelve Scroll Hunters were seated at the long, polished wood dining table, staring over the assortment of dishes and various foods in front of them. 

"If this is what Kaiba calls _simple,_" Joey said, blinking as he looked over the food, "then I'd _love _to see what he calls 'fancy'. Yeesh!" 

The True Joey had a point. There was quite a lot of food on the table, and while none of it was particularly complex, there were several dishes that the average Japanese citizen wouldn't be serving for dinner any old day. 

Kaiba gave a disdainful sniff at Joey's remark, but said nothing, lest he break the promise he had made in his duel. Instead, he served himself from a few of the dishes nearest to him and slowly began eating his dinner, the rest of the Scroll Hunters following suite (with the exception of Yami and Kaeru, who simply sat at the table to keep the others company and to chat with their friends). 

Most interesting, during their dinner, was the reactions of the Negatives to the huge meal set before them. Kaze did not seem to find anything of particular interest as far as the large dinner went, but Kawari and Saguru (the only other Negatives that could actually eat) looked a little surprised at seeing such a large amount of food set out for one meal. Tea, curious, asked them about it. "Do you guys have a food shortage or something in the Opposition?"

"Oh, nothing like that," Saguru explained, helping himself to one of the dishes before him. "We've got enough food to support everybody with the Opposition, and some surplus--never hurts to be careful--but we can't spare this much just for one meal." He shrugged. "You don't really see something like this where we come from."

"Oh," the teen girl said, blinking slightly, before turning back to her own plate.

The dinner was an altogether entertaining hour, with humorous stories swapping back and forth between Negative and True beings, and tales of each Realm group's great deeds and adventures being passed back and forth as well. 

The food was delicious, and everyone there managed seconds, with some (namely Joey and Tristan) stretching on to third and fourth portions. Saguru, surprisingly, was not a bottomless pit like his True self, pacing himself with his food and not trying to stuff everything within arm's range down his throat (indeed, he looked a bit startled, and partly disgusted, when the True blonde mauled one of the warm bread rolls as it passed by in the basket containing them). Kaeru had been attempting unsuccessfully to get his aibou to order a rare steak the next time one of the servants passed by (Kawari had point-blank refused to eat it, or allow his yami to do so in his body, much to the spirit's dismay) and he was now watching in annoyance as Kawari carved into a decidedly medium-cooked section of meat. Kaze and Kaiba, being at the same end of the table, were conversing on the evils of Exodia (for it seemed that Kaze had had a downfall against the powerful cards as well) while Yami listened on, smirking slightly. 

Eventually, the dinner came to an end, with the plates cleared of everything but the tiniest of crumbs. Kaiba, playing the gracious (though somewhat resentful) host, led the rest of his companions to what almost looked like a cross between a living room and a game room. There was a big-screen T.V. set up at one side of the room, with several game stations hooked up to it. Couches, overstuffed chairs, and tables dotted the room, making for comfortable places to sit, while at another end of the room what looked to be a foosball table, an air hockey table, and a pool table were set up. A counter ran along one section of the third wall, looking almost like a bar of some sort, with a fridge that was stashed with drinks and snacks was located.  
"Man, this is _some _room!" Tristan exclaimed, looking around with a surprised expression.

Kaiba gave a disdainful sniff. "I hardly ever use it," he said, voice flat. "It's more for Mokuba and his friends." He gave the game systems next to the T.V. an annoyed glare, but said nothing else. 

The group dispersed to use up their final hour and a half before the mission was to begin. One of the game stations--a Gamecube, from the looks of it--was currently in use, as Mokuba and Joey were versing each other in _Bloody Roar_. Mokuba was surprisingly good, but Joey was a pro with video games, and so the two were evenly matched. Kaiba and Kaze had found themselves in another high tech conversation over their company's achievements, their inventions, and the like, a conversation that none of the others could follow and didn't even bother trying to keep up with. Tristan and Tea had been shown to their rooms by a pair of servants, both wishing to catch at least a little bit of sleep before the next Realm Scroll was found, while Saguru seemed to be taking a cat-nap on one of the couches. Yami and Kaeru, the yami spirits that they were, were currently facing each other in a heated match of air hockey while Yugi, Kawari, and Ryou looked on. 

"Don't you think it's not the _brightest _idea to let those two face each other?" Yugi asked, somewhat dryly, as he watched his yami hammering the puck at Kaeru almost too quickly to be seen.

"Meh," Kawari muttered, shrugging, "At least they haven't attached bombs to the puck or something. It's surprising that they're actually doing this for _entertainment,_ not for killing each other off."

"True," Ryou agreed, nodding.

"But...they still get a little...over-competitive...like yami spirits will tend to do," Kawari added, sighing in exasperation, as his own darker spirit scored a goal on Yami and swore at his opponent gleefully in ancient Egyptian. Well, at least Ryou and Yugi hadn't understood that--although from the way Yami shouted back indignantly, they had probably picked up that Kaeru's language hadn't been clean.

The entertainment went by at a fast pace, and soon another half hour had been eaten up while they waited. Kaeru had eventually lost the air hockey game against Yami, much to the grave robber's annoyance (it now seemed that it was a universal fact that Yami always won against any version of Bakura) and the thief had challenged the ancient Pharaoh to a game of pool to see if he could fare better there. Kawari, Yugi, and Ryou, tired of watching the two over-competitive Egyptian spirits, wandered off chatting amongst themselves. 

After a few minutes, Yugi was called away from the two Ring owners by Joey; he had been challenged to a round of _Bloody Roar _and was looking forward to a match of his own against a friend. Kawari had strode over casually to one of the many over stuffed couches, plunking down on while looking almost bored. 

"Hey," Ryou said quickly, following his opposite on a sudden impulse and sitting down on an opposite couch. "I've got a question. D'you mind if I ask you?"

"Nah," the Negative replied, waving his hand absent-mindedly. "Shoot."

"Okay, well..." the True hikari hesitated momentarily, not exactly sure how to word it, but then continued on a few seconds later. "Where exactly did you learn how to do that?"

Kawari blinked, confused. "Learn to do what?"

"You know, all that stuff with...a dirk, did you call it? _Gin Hebi,_ I mean."

"Oh." Kawari shrugged absent mindedly. "Hey, you learn to defend yourself pretty quick in my Realm. If you don't fight, you die, end of story, and nobody's crying for you. All the people that didn't fight are long dead by now."

Ryou grimaced. "Your Realm sounds terrible...no offense or anything."

The Negative snorted. "None taken. My Realm does suck, but hey, when you get shoved into a situation you don't like, there's not much you can do, is there? Just fight until it's all over and never give in." He shrugged, then continued, asking a question of his own. "But why do you ask?"

"Oh...I was just thinking about what you did to my yami," Ryou answered, frowning slightly.

Kawari rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you think I was too mean or something. He deserved what he got, the freak."

Ryou shook his head. "No, I wasn't going to say that," he said quickly. "I was just curious...I mean, I've never seen anybody stand up to him like that before. It was new." The frown returned. "Although you must have done something big to him, because he's still unconscious in his soulroom."

The Negative gave a sly grin. "_Gin Hebi _has a few...ah...special abilities...that's why I favor it." But he wouldn't say anything more on the subject, leaving Ryou with a slight curiosity.

"In any case," Kawari continued, grinning again, "I never did any more to him than what he did to you. Did you ever notice that nearly all the attacks I used against him only struck in places where he had attacked or injured you?"

Ryou blinked in surprise. "No...I never noticed that at all!"

The opposite shrugged. "Well...he got back what he gave. I have no problems with that, and I don't think you should either."

Ryou chuckled ever so slightly. "I'll keep that in mind."

The conversation was halted as Kaeru strode forward, looking somewhat annoyed. Kawari glanced up at his yami spirit, asking casually, "Did the game end that quick? Who won?"

"Nobody," Kaeru muttered. "Kaze decided he had to separate me and Yami for the time being. Apparently we were being 'competitive to the point of being dangerous.' "

Kawari raised an eyebrow. "What made him say that?"

Kaeru grimaced slightly, then looked a little sheepish. "Well...heh heh...maybe it was because we both had an abnormal amount of shadow around us both..."

The Negative Ryou looked exasperated, and sighed. "Oy vey..."

Kaeru shrugged. "But it's okay," he said, turning to face his hikari and tapping the lighter being's watch. "We're way past your training session anyway, what with all this excitement."

"Aw, damn," Kawari muttered, looking slightly annoyed. "We have to do that _now _of all times?"

The guardian spirit looked stern. "It's not the best of times to be slacking off on your training. Especially now; who _knows _what will be in the next Challenge, or what will happen even after that. You need to drill, and now is as good a time as any."

The Negative Ryou gave a momentary sigh, then nodded. "You're right. Here; help me clear out some of these couches for a clearing."

The two set to work quickly, pushing and pulling the over stuffed couches, chairs, and hard wooden tables out of the way, making a sizable clearing in the middle of the room. Ryou, though not sure what exactly they were doing, helped them to clear, as did a few other curious beings from the True Realm. Kaze watched Kaeru and Kawari with a practiced eye, obviously understanding what they were doing, and Saguru (who had been woken up surprisingly quickly from his nap on one of the couches, so that they could move it) looked interested, as though some form of entertainment was about to be coming on.

Kawari strode out into the middle of the clearing, pulling quickly on his right-handed swordsman's glove to ensure that it was on tightly before coming to a stop in the center. He stood patiently, hands by his sides, and looked for all the world as though he was waiting for a bus or doing some other such normal, casual thing. 

"What's he doing?" Kaiba asked Kaze curiously, frowning. 

"Just watch," Kaze replied, looking interested, and not taking his eyes from his agent in the center of the room. "And don't go into the clearing, any of you, or you'll mess the routine up," he added, at a louder volume, so that the rest of the True Realm beings could hear it. 

Kaeru followed after his aibou, but after walking only a few steps into the clearing, he began to circle, hands crossed in front of his chest and a determined, but critical, look on his face. His eyes never left Kawari, and he circled in a fifteen foot radius around his hikari, who never moved from his position to turn and watch his own yami spirit.

Abruptly, the ancient spirit opened his mouth, and he barked in a loud, clear voice, "Guard Position!"

Kawari moved suddenly, like white, black, and silver lighting. His hand moved so fast that the True Realm beings could not tell where it had moved, but moments later his empty, gloved hand suddenly held the glittering blade of _Gin Hebi _within it, grasping the black grip with a determined look. His entire body moved as well; one moment, he stood casually, straight and tall, and the next, he was standing in a crouched position, knees bent with a perfect center of balance, and _Gin Hebi _held in it's master's hand, forward and ready to plunge towards its opponent.

The True Realm beings were startled. "How'd he do that?" A surprised Joey hissed, staring with wide eyes towards the now perfectly still Kawari. 

Kaeru gave the tiniest nod, still circling, before barking out another drill order. "Double Advance!"

Kawari slid forward with perfect grace, his balance always centered and his pace even. His movement, as before, was quick and precise, and it seemed to startle the True Realm beings momentarily.

The tomb robber gave another tiny nod, calling out, "Triple Retreat!" Kawari obeyed the command, sliding back one more step than he had moved forward, his movement never loosing it's grace once.

Kaeru looked more determined now. "Faster! Lunge and Recover!"

Kawari did as his yami instructed, looking as determined as the spirit. He lunged, his back leg staying in place while his front leg leapt forward and bent to hold his weight. _Gin Hebi_'s shining blade rammed forward with the sudden momentum Kawari gave it, and had it been facing an opponent, it would have sunk deep into the torso of it's enemy. Before the True Realm beings could register the movement, however, Kawari recovered, drawing back into the guard position he had momentarily left without so much as a hint of uncentered balance.

"Parry and Riposte!" Kaeru barked, still circling. The action was carried out immediately; _Gin Hebi _gave a quick, expert twitch in it's master's hand, knocking an imaginary opposing blade out of the way with as little effort as possible, and then the blade extended, taking control of the battle, had there been one.

"Good, basics are down, now we'll get more difficult," the tomb robber called, grinning slightly despite himself. Kawari shared a nearly identical grin, though the rest of him stayed frozen, as though he could not move. 

"Ready? Passata-Sotto, then attack!"

The True Realm beings frowned momentarily at the unfamiliar word, but soon understood what it meant as they watched Kawari. The hikari fell to a crouch almost instantly, still with an awe-inspiring grace--he looked as though he was made of liquid steel. _Gin Hebi _drew back, and seconds later lunged up at it's imaginary opponent above them. Yugi recognized the move as the same one that Kawari had used to injure Bakura's shoulder blade when he had been under attack.

"Fleche!" the Negative Bakura called, barely giving Kawari time to come back to a standing guard position. The opposite Ryou responded immediately, springing forward with a speedy step and lashing out with his prized dirk. Almost as soon as the blade had come back in it's arc, Kawari half ran, half skipped backwards, landing with feet planted firmly on the ground and once again in his guard position.

"Feint, Extend, and Round Six!" Kaeru roared, still circling, eyes watching his hikari with the critical look of a trainer. Kawari moved into action instantly; _Gin Hebi _lashed out, then withdrew in a fake attack. It was obvious from his movements that this was supposed to have drawn his opponent into a defensive maneuver; _Gin Hebi _then extended, twirled around the imaginary opposite blade of it's opponent, and planted it's shining tip deep into the torso area of it's enemy. 

"In-Quartata, then a side slash!" Kawari preformed a side-stepping movement without a hint of hesitation, lashing out with his dirk and catching his "opponent" in the back. 

"Good!" Kaeru said, nodding approvingly. "Target practice." As he circled, he grasped a handful of what looked like grapes from a bowl on the counter of the bar-like area. "Any blade forms will suffice, but do not let any single one of these hit the floor uncut." Kawari nodded, facing his yami with a fierce determination, _Gin Hebi _clutched tightly in his gloved hand.

Kaeru picked one of the grapes from his hand and tossed it towards his aibou, sending it in a high arc. Kawari lashed out quickly, a move that passed so fast it was almost impossible to see--but then the grape, now split evenly in two, plopped to the ground, dribbling a small amount of juice from it's neatly cut open halves. Still looking determined, Kaeru tossed another, this one farther away from his aibou. Kawari moved speedily, lashed out, and another grape hit the ground, split in two.

This seemed to act like a marking point, for suddenly Kaeru was hurling the grapes as hard as he could, sending them speedily in all directions. Kawari kept up with him perfectly, moving on pure instinct, slicing and slashing here and there, darting with nearly frightening speed, twisting and turning to keep up with his targets. When he was too far away from one of his targets to properly slice them, he would knock them into the air with the flat of his blade, slicing at them once again when they were nearer to him. At one point, he even knocked one into a high arc and caught it in his own mouth, chewing absent-mindedly on the juicy fruit as he slashed at the rest of his targets with a fiery determination. 

"Nice," Kaeru called, nodding approvingly as the last grape had been tossed. "Kept your form, as always, that's not much of a problem with you. But for Amun-Ra's sake, stop fooling around during your training session, Kawari, this is _serious._"

Kawari shrugged, evidently knowing that his yami was talking about grape that he had eaten. "Hey, I was hungry," he said absent-mindedly, wiping his sweaty bangs out of his eyes and shrugging off his black coat. 

The True Realm beings were staring in awe at Kawari, particularly Ryou. "Was...was that his training session?" Yugi asked the nearby Saguru, eyes even wider than usual.

"Nah, there's still more to do," the Negative Joey answered calmly, looking interested. "Kaeru seems to have shortened the schedule due to our current situation--they usually train for an hour or two every day-- but he's still not letting Kawari off the hook _that _easy."

Yami looked interested. "What else do they do?" he asked, curious.

Saguru winked. "You'll see."

Kaeru stopped circling, moving forward to face his hikari. "Well...think you're ready for a few one-on-one training sessions?" he asked calmly, arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Ready as ever," Kawari answered, grinning slightly.

"Great," Kaeru responded, turning to face Kaze. "Hey, I don't have any of mine with me. Can I borrow a few?"

Kaze nodded. "Sure." His hands flickered, and a pair of long-bladed knives seemed to appear out of thin air in his hands. Both hands gave a casual flicking motion, and the knives went spinning through the air, directly towards Kaeru. The True Realm beings looked shocked momentarily--it looked for all the world as though the spirit was about to be impaled by a pair of his leader's own knives--but then Kaeru's hands moved with quick ease, snatching the blades out of thin air. He twirled them between his fingers calmly, looking quite accustomed to the blades. The sight made Ryou flinch momentarily before the True hikari could remind himself that Kaeru was on _his _side, not against him.

Kaeru slid forward to face Kawari, a knife in each hand, raising them to a ready position. Kawari slid into his own guard stance, weight balanced and half-crouching, _Gin Hebi _held forward. 

"Remember," the Negative Bakura reminded, "You need to work on your defense. Your offense is perfect, but while your defense is good, it needs work against the most skilled of blade masters. Ready?" Kawari nodded, his hand tightening on _Gin Hebi _reflexively. "Very well. Begin."

The two engaged blades with a clash, and instantly the two were off in a practice fight. Kaeru wielded his two blades with perfect accuracy, and despite all the skill Kawari had displayed, the tomb robber seemed to nearly always have the upper hand. The thief busily shouted encouragement and advice to his aibou, however, and Kawari seemed to act on it immediately, his weight shifting and his grip changing as his yami suggested. 

After several minutes, Kaeru found an opening that was too good for the tomb robber to pass up. With perfect ease, he sidestepped the slash from _Gin Hebi _that Kawari had just delivered, slid within the hikari's line of defense, and tapped the flat of one of the knives to his charge's neck. "Dead," he said simply, stepping back to face Kawari with a critical eye.

"_Dammit,_" Kawari said, almost conversationally, looking annoyed. "How d'you always do that?" 

Kaeru shrugged. "I told you, watch your defense. The Hand of the Shadow takes an opening you give them, and so does a tomb robber."

Kawari rolled his eyes. "Righto. I'll keep that in mind."

Mokuba couldn't help but break in at this moment. "But...but you beat _Bakura..._so how can Kaeru beat _you?_" he asked of Kawari, looking confused.

Kawari sighed. "Kaeru trained me, so he knows all of my moves and what I'm capable of. Bakura did not." He looked annoyed. 

"But that almost doesn't seem fair," Mokuba said, looking a little surprised. "If he knows everything you can do, you can't win against him!"

Kawari chuckled. "On the contrary, Mokuba, it makes it so he can notice my mistakes, and then I can correct them and better my form. Besides," he added, his face darkening to a dull frown, "it doesn't really matter whether anything is fair or not in our Realm. There _is _no fair in our Realm. An opposing agent isn't going to politely wait for you to catch up to him in skill before he kills you. Dead is dead, like it or not." 

This little speech seemed to shock the True Realm beings into a momentary silence, and Kaeru and Kawari took the opportunity to turn back to their practice session. They dove into their practice fights with ease, blades whirling and slicing with what would have been deadly accuracy had either been meaning to kill, they themselves circling in a dangerous dance of graceful movements and forms. As before, Kaeru almost always seemed to keep the upper hand, and several more times he managed to step into his aibou's line of defense and press a knife to his neck; however, he shouted encouragement and suggestions as he had earlier, bettering his hikari's stance and movements. And Kawari did not simply allow his opponent to win either; he was a tough fighter, that much could be seen, and he managed to step behind his yami's own defensive line to "score" in the mock fights several times. 

After a good forty-five minutes of their remaining hour had passed, the two finally came to a halt. Both of them were panting hard--Kaeru's physical body was just that, physical, and suffered the hardships of being a living thing while he kept the form--and sweat trickled down their faces, plastering their silver-white hair to the sides of their heads. But they were both grinning at the end of the training session, and Kaeru was applauding Kawari's skills, saying that he had done quite well--though he still needed to work on defense. The spirit then returned Kaze's knives to their owner (the weapons seemed to disappear into thin air when Kaze took a hold of them) and asked Kaiba calmly if there was a bathroom where he and his aibou could wash off their faces after the rigorous training. Kaiba pointed them down a hall, and the two white-haired agents disappeared, returning a few minutes later with sweat-devoid faces and chatting animatedly about different blade forms.

"That was _amazing!_" Joey yelled as the two returned, grinning broadly. "_Damn,_ _now _I get how you beat Bakura like that!"

Kawari chuckled, sitting down on one of the couches (which had been returned to it's original position while he'd been washing up) and pulling _Gin Hebi _from it's sheath. He laid it out across his lap, pulling a few more tools from the large, wide pockets of his baggy black pants--an oiled cloth and a tool used for sharpening, from the looks of it. Picking up the cloth, he began running it over the shining blade of _Gin Hebi,_ replying calmly, "I guess you could call it amazing if you want, but it's really no big deal. I've been doing stuff like this for a few years now."

"Maybe," Yugi said, "but _wow,_ was it ever cool to watch!"

"Not something you see every day, I'm guessing?" the Negative asked, slightly amused at the excited looks from the True beings. He finished running the cloth over his prized blade and switched to the other tool, sharpening the dirk and bringing its metal to a razor sharp edge.

"Geeze, no," Joey said, grinning. "I haven't seen anything that cool in a while. Man, it's too bad Tristan and Tea missed seeing that!"

Kawari rolled his eyes, but said in a friendly, slightly sarcastic manner, "So I'm an entertainer now, am I?" Joey laughed, Yugi joining in. 

The remaining fifteen minutes were filled with idle chatter, and soon the time had come for the theft team to leave for their mission. Most of those present from the True Realm wanted to accompany the three in the theft team, but Kaze put his foot down, saying firmly that not everybody could go, or they would get caught. Mokuba, Kaeru, and Kawari needed to go, obviously, and they were to be accompanied by Kaiba and Kaze until the mission started (partly because both versions of Kaiba wanted to look out for Mokuba, and partly because the Blue Eyes needed to have a connection with his agents should anything go wrong). Saguru, the last Negative, was asked by Kaze to stay behind at the mansion in case something should go wrong, and the blonde agreed to cheerfully. 

With the team set, the five took off, exiting the mansion quickly and walking in the darkness towards the museum. It was a long walk, for the Kaiba mansion was set back from the road some ways to begin with, and it was not exactly close to the city, either. This did not discourage the group, however, and they continued walking, talking in whispers as they did so. Not even Kaiba, with his heavy metal briefcase at his side, slowed down during the quick-paced walk, although the case did bring a questioning glance from Kaze, until the opposite shrugged and disregarded it as unimportant.

It was about a half hour of fast-paced walking later that the group of five reached the Domino Museum. Most of it's windows were dark, although a few held soft glows that obviously indicated there were still people inside, most likely security guards. The building stood around eight or nine stories, and was altogether quite large, speaking of the many artifacts that must have been sitting inside it. 

"This is where we leave you guys," Kaeru said to the versions of Kaiba, sounding perfectly calm, as though he were not about to steal something. "We've got to move around to the side so we won't get noticed." He turned to leave, as did Kawari and Mokuba, but Kaiba stopped them quickly with a whispered shout.

"Hold up," the True Seto said quickly, kneeling down on the concrete sidewalk underneath one of the street lamps so that he could see better. He placed the briefcase before him, snapping it open with a few quick strokes of his fingers to reveal soft padding inside of it. Nestled into the padding were four things--a large black laptop and three pairs of headsets. Kaiba snapped on the laptop quickly, then turned to the headsets, taking one out for himself and slipping it around his neck until he chose to use it. 

"Here," he said softly, taking out another pair and handing them to Mokuba, while gesturing for Kawari to come and take his own pair, "We can use these to communicate, in case you get in a tight spot and need my help. I have downloads of all the information we got on this laptop, so it should be no problem."

Kaze raised an eyebrow, though he looked as if he approved. "Nice idea," he said simply, nodding. 

Kawari and Kaeru nodded as well, but to Kaiba's confusion, the Negative Ryou did not come forward to retrieve his own headset. Blinking, the True CEO asked, "Well? Aren't you going to get yours?"

Kawari shook his head. "I don't need one," he said, shrugging. "I've got my own means of communication."

Kaiba rolled his eyes in reply. "And next you're going to tell me you have mind reading powers and you're a telepath or something."

The Negative laughed. "No, but I probably do _somewhere _in one of these Realms." He grinned. "I mean, the likelihood is pretty high due to the sheer amount of Realms and--" he caught Kaiba's annoyed, flat stare and shrugged a bit sheepishly. "Okay, okay, I'm shutting up."

The True Seto just rolled his eyes, but Mokuba asked curiously, "Wait. How _can _you talk to us without a headset?"

Kawari grinned. "I told you, I have my own communicator. It's just really well hidden." This said, he brushed back the long strands of hair over his left ear, showing that it was pierced and had a small silver hoop through it.

"What does a pierced ear have to do with it?" Mokuba asked, again with a curious tone. Before Kawari could answer, however, Kaiba suddenly caught on and spoke up.

"_That's _your communicator, isn't it? The earring." The Negative nodded, and the brunette added, "It's very well built. You wouldn't notice it's a communicator unless you had a practiced eye and could pick out the different components."

Kawari chuckled again. "Which is why it's very well hidden. We just have to adjust the frequency and I can talk to you easily enough. Kaeru can hear the messages through our mind link." The spirit nodded at this, still looking quite calm.

"Well then," Kaiba muttered, shrugging momentarily, "Kaze and I will have to relocate, but we can talk to you from some distance, so we won't look suspicious by hanging out here. If you need anything, just ask." With this said, the frequency was quickly adjusted, and within a few moments the two versions of Seto Kaiba were striding off down the darkened streets. 

Kaeru looked after them for a moment, then shrugged and turned back to the two team members under his command. "Shall we get going?" he asked, sounding almost lazy. Kawari nodded in reply, sharing his yami's laid back, lazy expression, and Mokuba's nod was vigorous, full of determined energy that the boy so often had.

The threesome moved quickly, Kaeru in the lead, and within the span of only a few moments they were standing to one side of the museum, the shadows cast by the building effectively hiding them from the view of any possible travelers on the street (though the likelihood of pedestrians outside at nearly two O'clock in the morning were slim). 

Once safely hidden, the Negative tomb robber turned and faced his two partners in crime. "Okay," he said, still sounding ultimately calm, almost bored, "now we begin. A few ground rules--" at this, he turned to look at Mokuba, since Kawari obviously had enough experience to know the basics--"try to refrain from talking loudly if you can, move as quietly as possible, and don't take your mind off of the goal. This should be a fairly simple mission, so don't worry about the possibility of not completing it; so far as I'm concerned that possibility is slim to none. I still want you to stay on guard at all times though. Better too much effort than to little, don't you agree?" 

Mokuba nodded. "Right." He blinked quickly, still with a determined light shining in his bright gray eyes, but then the determination was clouded over with confusion. "Wait a minute. How were we getting in again?"

Kaeru chuckled slightly, looking partly interested, partly amused, while Kawari just smiled. The opposite thief, seeing Mokuba's confusion increase, explained quickly.

"Well, you see, I've learned from experience that whatever or wherever is considered impossible to get to is guarded the least. Therefore...myself and my hikari have perfected a variety of skills to be able to perform said impossible tasks. It makes the whole job easier, in my opinion."

The black haired child stared up at him in surprise, then frowned. "So...what's impossible here?"

Kaeru pointed upward, towards the high walls of the Domino museum. "I've noticed that windows higher up in a building tend not to have as much security. After all, it seems unlikely for a thief to break through a window on the fourth floor when there's no supports for him to stand on, hmm?"

Mokuba blinked, startled. "You mean you're gonna--"

"Scale the wall, yes. I find it rather entertaining, actually." He grinned. "The thrill of climbing a flat surface with absolutely no harnesses or supports...positively exhilarating."

The younger Kaiba stared up at both Kawari and Kaeru without emotion for a moment before stating quite calmly, "You guys are both crazy."

"Nah," Kawari answered, shaking his head slightly, "we're just from the Negative Realm." As surprisingly vague as this answer was, it seemed to be a perfect response to what Mokuba had just said; the boy shrugged and stuck his hands in his pockets, saying nothing.

Kaeru chuckled again and strode over to the wall, observing it quickly before giving a grim smile. "This brick is rather crumbly; we're in luck. A good blade would be able to carve handholds, should I really need it." He turned to his hikari. "Do you have the rope and knives?"

"Yup," the opposite Ryou answered calmly, reaching into his jacket's inner pockets. Two knives were produced shortly, tossed through the air in a glittering arc almost carelessly to the Negative Bakura; several moments later, a coil of rope was brought out as well, which Kaeru looped over his shoulder in an almost bored manner, as if he was shouldering a backpack. 

"Well," he said, giving Mokuba and Kawari one last look, "be seeing you shortly from the top." And with that said, he calmly turned, found a pair of footholds in the slightly bumpy, uneven brick wall of the museum, and boosted himself up, beginning to climb. 

Mokuba watched in amazement as the spirit moved upward, surprised that it was even possible to scale a wall without ropes or harnesses, and that he was actually _seeing _it. Kaeru moved up like a spider, finding hand- and foot-holds so quickly that he shot up the surface. When he found himself momentarily stuck, he would flatten himself as close to the wall as possible, using one of the two knives Kawari had tossed him to carve into the building's brick and cement in order to make _just _enough of a crack or indent for a hold. He passed the second floor within a matter of minutes, shot around the third floor windows ten minutes after that, and closed in on the fourth-level window nearest to him another ten minutes after that. 

"Wow," the black-haired boy muttered, his amazement unchecked in his voice. "That's _cool._"

Kawari chuckled. "Oh yeah. It's even better when you're the climber."

"You can do it too?" Frankly, the younger Kaiba wouldn't have been surprised if the answer was yes. 

"In a manner of speaking, yes. I'm not as skilled as my yami is at it--I mean, he _has _had more experience--but I'm lighter, so gravity isn't so much of a problem for me as it is with him. It makes it easier for me, at any rate."

"Oh."

The Negative Ryou chuckled again. "You're not used to this kind of stuff, apparently."

"Not really," Mokuba admitted, smiling a bit. "I mean...it's not everyday that I break into museums and stuff."

Kawari shrugged. "It's all in a day's work for us." 

The talk was cut short as, up on the side of the museum, Kaeru traversed on the wall and sidled up next to one of the windows. He bent his head as close as he could to the window, observing momentarily, before smiling to himself and muttering something under his breath.

"What's he doing?" Mokuba asked, curious.

"Getting a lock pick," Kawari answered, sounding almost bored.

The tomb robber maneuvered so that he was leaning in towards the wall and holding on with only one hand and his toes; his left hand had dug into his pockets, coming out only a few moments later with a small, leather-bound case the size of a wallet in his hand. Grinning to himself slightly, as if he was in the middle of some very entertaining game, he flipped the case open with his thumb and pulled one of the metal tools inside out with his teeth before replacing the leather object in his pocket. Still grinning, his pointed teeth visible clamped around the lock pick of his choice, he maneuvered again so that he could lean close to the window, transferred the pick to his hand, and began working with it. 

Mokuba watched with interest, head craned back so that he could see. There was no lock on the outside of the window, of course--no one would be fool enough to do that--but Kaeru appeared to be using the pick to loosen the window edges so that he could remove a part of the obstruction to create a way into the museum. 

"You can do that with a lock pick?" he asked, a bit skeptically. 

"You can do a _lot _of stuff with a lock pick, if you know what you're doing," Kawari replied, grinning mischievously, also tilting his head back to watch his yami. "That's rule number one in our trade in the Opposition: _never_ go _anywhere _without a few all-purpose tools hidden on you."

Mokuba glanced over at the Negative Ryou quickly before returning his gaze to Kaeru above them, who was still miraculously clinging to the wall _and _working on removing the window at the same time. The younger Kaiba understood the need to remove, not break, the glass; they did not want to leave behind any evidence of their being there, lest they get themselves into trouble. Although they themselves realized the cause was a just one, they highly doubted that the Domino Police force would believe their tale of saving the world from evil magical forces. 

Kaeru went at it for ten minutes, the soft clicking of metal against metal or metal against glass sharp in their ears and sounding enormously loud against the stillness of the night. The spirit was in a rather difficult position, clinging to the wall with one hand while he maneuvered the lock pick with another, and his attention was divided between both activities. After five minutes had passed, he started muttering under his breath, and Kawari informed Mokuba with a slight chuckle in his tone that the tomb robber was swearing in Egyptian. 

After ten minutes had passed, however, Kaeru gave a triumphant hiss as the glass in the window shivered and gave way, the pane sliding inward towards the room beyond. He snatched it quickly before it could hit the hard tiles inside and shatter, which would make noise and attract attention, and set it down gently on the floor inside before slipping, ghostlike, through the window and disappearing within.

"He actually _did _it," Mokuba said, surprised. 

Kawari raised an eyebrow at this comment, then said, shrugging, "He's not the King of Thieves for nothing."

"Are you going to stand out there all night chattering, or are you going to come up and join me?" Kaeru asked calmly from four stories up, speaking in a hissing, whispering shout so as not to attract any unwanted attention. Mokuba noticed that he had tossed down the rope that he had rested over his shoulder earlier, and it now hung, swaying slightly, ready for somebody to climb it.

"We're coming, Kaeru," Kawari replied, striding forward and testing the rope quickly by giving it a few short tugs. Satisfied, he turned to Mokuba, asking calmly, "You know how to climb, right?"

"Oh yeah," the younger Kaiba said cheerfully, grinning. "I do it all the time."

"Great. You go up first, just in case; if you fall I'll be right behind you, although I doubt that will happen."

Mokuba nodded, trotting forward to grasp the rope before taking a quick breath and beginning the assent. He looked as if he was walking up the wall, using it as a support for his feet, and within about five minutes or so he reached the window Kaeru was still leaning out of. The Negative thief helped him through the window quickly, Kawari slipping through in the same ghostlike manner as his yami to drop with a neat hop to the tiled floor inside.

"So far, so good," Kaeru said, nodding approvingly, as he reeled in the rope from the window. "We're inside, that's part one of the task over."

"Don't jinx it, yami," Kawari muttered rather dryly. "Saying 'so far, so good' doesn't ever seem to help a situation."

The spirit shrugged. "Who doesn't like a bit of a challenge?" he asked, dropping the rope to the floor calmly before picking up the glass pane of the window and re-fitting it to it's original location.

"I like a challenge as much as you do," the Negative hikari grumbled, "But not when it's connected to something as important as a Realm Scroll."

Kaeru rolled his eyes, finishing with the glass pane and fitting it back into its place with a small snap. "You're too superstitious."

"Better safe than sorry."

"Let's just get going," Mokuba interrupted hastily. He was getting more excited and nervous by the second about this latest part of their adventure, and his heart was fluttering so quickly it felt like it was trying to claw it's way out of his chest. 

"Mmm-hmm, right, kid," Kaeru agreed, nodding, as he bent to coil the rope and loop it over his shoulder again. "Now remember--don't touch any display cases or items for show here, they'll probably have some form of detectors or alarms on them, and if we trigger one we're screwed. I'll let you know when any other obstacles could get in our way." The other two nodded.

"Now, a quick review of our plan of action," the spirit continued, speaking in a slight whisper. "Remember, the Scroll we're searching for, according to the records Kaze and Kaiba printed out, is on the first floor in the back wing where they have their displays of the artifacts they found on the reserve. We're on the fourth floor, so that means we're traveling down three flights and going to be doing a bit of roaming before we get to our destination. There will be security measures here, without a doubt, as we've discovered: cameras, laser sensors, and the like. Keep that in mind as we go."

Mokuba nodded, then turned his head to look around their surroundings. The room they were standing in was dark, lights turned off and only a few dim spots of light left here and there for the night watch. These dim bulbs cast eerie shadows over the floor tiles and walls of the room, and the boy shivered, remembering all too quickly that the shadows were their enemy, and their cause for breaking into the museum in the first place. 

Spaced all around the room neatly were glass cases, tables, and information cards that spoke about specific items on display. On the walls hung paintings and photographs, held in large black frames that reflected the dim light of the bulbs in an almost lonely manner, as if begging for somebody to view their contents. Potted plants were skillfully placed in the corners of the room to fill up the empty space, though they looked rather forlorn, like their picture counterparts, leaves drooping unhappily as if waiting for a new day and new people to come.

A deep chill ran up Mokuba's spine, and he grimaced slightly. He'd been to the Domino Museum before, many times, and had always enjoyed it by day, when it was bright and sunny and filled with people. Now, however...it looked empty, desolate, dead and cold, to the point of being frightening. 

Kawari strode forward absent mindedly, coming to stand in front of one of the glass cases and reading the card in it's plaque that explained the item on display, which happened to be a gray uniform that looked as if it had been the outfit of a soldier. He cocked his head quizzically after finishing his reading and asked the air, "American history?"

Mokuba shrugged. "It _is _a history museum, it has rooms devoted to all sorts of countries and their histories. This is the American history room, I guess..."

The Negative Ryou looked interested. "Heh...if we had more time in this Realm I'd have loved to come here for a visit..." he gave Kaeru a calm glance and then asked his yami absent-mindedly, "I wonder how much of _their_ history is different from ours?"

"No idea, but that's not what we're here for. Let's get moving." This said, Kaeru strode forward towards the entrance to the corridor outside. Mokuba noticed with interest that his stance seemed to have changed, and he now walked with a practiced, slinking gait that almost screamed 'thief!'

Kawari shrugged and nodded to the younger Kaiba, motioning for him to follow them before turning after his yami spirit. The black-haired boy moved forward as well, heading after his two companions and to exit the dark room.

The depth of the shadows played on his nerves, however, and another chill ran up his spine lightly as he turned his back to the room. Tense, the boy turned his head hurriedly to look over his shoulder, almost double-checking to see if somebody was following him, even though his rational mind told him it wasn't possible. The result of the sudden movement was that he tripped, falling forward towards a glass case that held a Union rifle inside. 

_Oh, no, now I'm gonna trigger an alarm!_ the boy managed to think, clenching his eyes shut. 

Before he hit, however, somebody grabbed his shoulders, pulling him hurriedly upright before he managed to hit the case. Startled, he whipped his eyes open to meet with a pair of brown harsh-yet-innocent orbs. 

Kawari chuckled, releasing his friend's shoulders as he spoke. "Woah, there, careful. Don't get us caught before we start!"

Mokuba grimaced apologetically. "Sorry, sorry...I was just nervous, that's all..."

"It's not a problem," Kaeru assured him from the doorway. "Just try to stay more alert in the future. Mistakes like that can be costly in this business."

Mokuba still looked rather apologetic, so Kawari added cheerfully, "Don't sweat it! Even the famous tomb robber over there had a few falls in his day." Kaeru gave his hikari a flat, annoyed stare and a growl at this, but the lighter Negative only grinned widely in response.

The three Scroll hunters slid out into the hallways and corridors outside the American History room, Kawari and Kaeru still bickering good-naturedly, though quietly. They did not appear nervous or worried about the mission, and so Mokuba hastily reassured himself that everything would go perfectly fine and he was quite safe.

"Okay, now," Kaeru warned them, after a few minutes of striding down the hallways had passed, "security cameras are coming up, and I mean a _lot _of them, at least in this hallway. They'll be fairly simple to get by, even _without _disabling them...the trick is to stand in their blind spot, generally underneath them," he added, for Mokuba's benefit. The black haired boy nodded, filing this information away and keeping a close watch for the mentioned security cameras.

They appeared after a few minutes, hidden strategically in the corners where wall met ceiling and wrapped in shadow so that they were almost impossible to see--to the untrained eye. But Kaeru and Kawari (and Mokuba, after a few second's pause) could easily see the dim lighting of the hallways reflecting off of the glass lenses in the cameras, and took precautions not to walk in their sight lines. Instead, as Kaeru had suggested, they walked _underneath _the cameras, slipping from position to position quickly to avoid being seen by one while hiding from another. The hallway was passed by within moments, much to Mokuba's surprise, and when they turned down another camera-infested corridor, the boy was surprised at how fast he had picked up on the strategy--it took even less time than it did before.

"Security here is terrible," Kawari commented dryly, as he slipped almost ghost-like from his spot underneath one camera in mid-hallway to stand under a second. "Geeze, we could've stolen half the stuff in the museum by now and they wouldn't even know we were here until they saw the empty cases the next day."

"Mmm," Kaeru muttered in agreement, looking slightly annoyed. Mokuba giggled at the expression slightly, knowing that the spirit was probably fighting his thief instincts to take anything shiny and of high value. 

They reached a staircase easily, and trooped down the stairs with eerie silence, passing by the shadow-covered sign that read "3rd Floor: Ancient Cultures." Kaeru pushed open the door leading to the next level and entered the hallways, glancing around quickly for security cameras.

Mokuba blinked in confusion. "Why don't we just keep going down?" He asked, pointing to the stairs that they had just left.

Kaeru shook his head, however, and Kawari explained. "We'd meet with the guard during his rounds," he said, looking calm. "That would hinder our progress a bit. It's easier to just bypass this pathetic security and go across one floor to the stairs on the opposite side."

"Oh," the black-haired boy murmured, understanding quickly. "I get it." He trotted after the white-haired theft experts, trying to move as quietly as possible past the stone statues, golden artifacts, and huge tapestries that adorned the open main chambers of this particular section of the Ancient Cultures floor--Roman artifacts. 

It was during this walk--laced by dodging security cameras and slipping away from motion and light sensors that would trigger alarms--that the headset Mokuba currently had gave a quick beep, and a voice spoke. "Mokuba, Kawari? How you guys doing?"

Kawari appeared to be busy, so Mokuba responded. "We're fine, brother." He wasn't sure _which _version of Kaiba was talking--they both sounded exactly the same, after all--but it seemed safe enough to call them both brother, and he had adapted the title to the both of them quickly. 

"Are you in?"

"Yeah; we're on the third floor right now." He chuckled slightly. "Kaeru and Kawari are acting all disappointed; it's like they were hoping this would be tougher."

"Yeah, that sounds like them," came the reply--though Mokuba was sure it was on a different headset then the one he'd been talking to a moment ago. Obviously, both Kaze _and _Kaiba were tuned into the network. 

"So where did you guys go?" Mokuba asked, whispering due to the unusual silence in the museum that was so creepy, as well as the need to stay undiscovered. 

"We're in the middle of Domino Park," one of the two Kaibas responded, sounding bored. "We found a bench and now we're just waiting for you guys to finish up."

"It's amazing to see that half the park hasn't been torn out," commented the second voice of Kaiba--obviously Kaze; why else would Domino Park have been ruined?

"Okay, well, from the looks of things we're gonna be done pretty soon," Mokuba reported, "so until then, unless we need your help, see ya Big Brother...both of you!"

"Right," one of them said, sounding somewhat calm, or maybe bored. "We'll leave you to your work so we don't disturb you. See you later." Another click, and the headset went quiet.

Slightly perked up at hearing his brother--or perhaps brothers'--voices, Mokuba found a slight grin growing on his face as he trotted to catch up to Kawari and Kaeru. The two of them were standing at the foot of a narrow hallway, staring down it with apparent disinterest, but neither of them were moving forward.

"What's wrong?" Mokuba asked, curious, as he came to stand next to Kaeru.

In reply, the tomb robber asked a question as well. "Do you remember your major part of this theft mission?"

The black haired boy blinked for a second, and then nodded, his grin growing slightly wider. "Yeah. Did we reach that already?"

It was Kawari that answered this time. "Yup." He pointed at the hallway, saying calmly, "Light sensors. You could call them laser sensors as well, I suppose." He rolled his eyes. "It's always in movies and whatnot; you know, the old red beams of light that go from one spot to another?"

Mokuba nodded again. "But that's not how it is in real life, I guess," he added, staring at the hallway, which was completely devoid of the tell-tale red beams.

"Definitely not," Kaeru said, his voice rather dry. "You'd need smoke in order to see the beams in reality. We don't have any with us, but fortunately we've come up with an alternative method." He grinned mischievously. "That's where you come in."

"Right. Just give me the directions and I'll do it."

Kaeru slid over towards one of the walls calmly, careful not to go too far down the hallway lest he trigger the sensors. Looking almost bored, he pointed out a nearby ventilator shaft that sat innocently up near the ceiling, as if trying to stay out of sight.

"You'll be going through that," he said, voice calm. "Kawari and I can't fit through such a small place, but you most definitely can. Just travel through them to get to the right room--there should be a computer or some other security system that controls these sensors. You just have to disable it with the code that we've already gotten during our 'research,' and we'll be free to walk through these hallways without a problem."

"Okay," Mokuba agreed, looking determined. "Where's the code?"

Kawari handed him a piece of paper with his gloved hand, on which were scribbled numbers and letters. The black-haired boy took it, looked over it quickly to make sure he could read all the numbers and letters without any misunderstanding, and then stuffed it into his pocket. 

"Well, I'm ready," the boy told Kaeru, nodding again.

"Good," the tomb robber replied easily. "I'll boost you up." 

Mokuba stood on the thief's shoulders as the spirit stood, reaching up to unscrew the clasps that held the ventilator shaft's grate closed. This was accomplished fairly quickly with the aid of a tool Kawari passed up to him, and within a few moments he handed the grate down to the Negative hikari before grasping hold of the shaft's edge and pulling himself up into the tiny space.

"Okay, now keep in mind," Kaeru directed carefully, each word clear so that they would not be mistaken for another, "the directions are fairly simple to remember, but there's a lot of places where you could get confused once you're in there. The shafts are like a maze all over the building, so we need to make sure you don't get lost. Listen carefully." The younger Kaiba stared at the ancient Negative intently, showing he was paying attention, and the tomb robber continued. "Skip the first two passages you could exit from; take the third from the left. After that, the fourth right, a left, another left--the second one--two more rights and then straight on for six other passages. You should find yourself at a security room. The guard should be out; he ought to be on his rounds by now."

"I'll be scouting for him," Kawari said calmly, reassuring Mokuba with a wink.

"Right," Kaeru said, nodding, before turning back to Mokuba. "If the guard _is _there, wait for a few minutes. If he doesn't leave, tell us by the radio link and we'll provide a distraction, but I highly doubt we'll need that."

"Right," Mokuba murmured, running over the directions again in his head. "I got it."

"Go as quick as you can; time is of the essence," came the final instruction of the tomb robber's, before he nodded. "Alright, take off."

The black haired boy gave a small grin before turning in the cramped space and crawling along the metal tube's lengths. It was dark, he realized, as soon as he left the opening that he'd entered by; fortunately, light was shed by each other opening that the shaft was connected to, so he wasn't forced to work in pitch blackness. It was cold, too, the metal brushing against his skin and giving him goosebumps. He went on gamely, however, determined to make his contribution to finding the Realm Scroll of Hatred.

He crawled for some time in the dim lighting of the shaft, twisting and turning as the directions commanded. He guessed it was roughly ten minutes, and hoped that he had gone quick enough to suit Kaeru's liking. After those estimated ten minutes had passed, he found himself facing another grate much like the first that he had taken off in order to travel in these twisted metal passageways.

"This must be it," he whispered to himself quietly, barely able to hear even his own voice. 

Pressing his face to the grate, he stared out into the dim room beyond, feeling a sudden leap in his heart as he stared at the flickering screens of the computer monitors inside it. He hurriedly scanned the room for a person; there was none, he noticed quickly, and quickly pushed his fingers through the spaces in the grate to unscrew it and free himself from the shafts. Once free, it was a simple matter to lower himself onto one of the desks beneath the shaft (very convenient--he would have no trouble getting back up to it when he was done) and drop to the ground, quiet as a cat.

"I'm in the security room," he whispered into the communicator headset quickly, hoping that Kawari had heard it. 

Apparently he had, for there was a response from him. "Great," came a surprisingly almost cheerfulvoice, as though it's occupant was having fun. "You're clear, too, the guard is way over in the Ancient Indian culture section and he won't be coming back for a while."

"Right." Feeling slightly safer now that he had this information, Mokuba took a deep breath and moved forward to the security computer. 

It was pretty basic, he realized, after looking over the computer and it's controls for a few minutes. He knew how to work more difficult ones, thanks to his brother, and making this one do what he wanted would be a snap. 

Grinning slightly, he placed his hands on the keys, clicking over them gently as he typed in a request to see the data and controls of the light/laser sensors. As expected, the computer asked for a password, giving a little beep of protest when Mokuba tried to bypass it before entering the code.

Quickly, the black-haired boy removed the scrap of paper Kawari had given him from his pocket, typing in the sequence of letters and numbers with a speedy accuracy. He smiled triumphantly and clicked "enter," expecting the computer to allow him to continue, but to his dismay, a window popped up on the screen informing him that the password was incorrect and that he would not be allowed into the security systems.

"What?" Mokuba asked the air, startled. He typed in the code again; and again, it did not work, the computer politely requesting that he type in the correct password.

He frowned, murmuring, "Something's wrong," under his breath and glancing over the computer screen again. Unable to find any errors he might have made, he thought momentarily before clicking on his communicator again and murmuring, "Big Brother?"

"Yeah, Mokuba?" the reply came, after several seconds pause. "Is something wrong?"

"Well...sorta," the boy muttered in reply, grimacing to himself. "I'm trying to turn off the laser sensors in the security control room, but the password you and Kaze found isn't working, and I'm not sure what's wrong."

"Give me a sec," Kaiba--Negative or True, it was still undefined--replied calmly, going silent. Mokuba waited impatiently, starting to feel nervous again due to the darkness of the room. He glanced around quietly, eyeing the shadows that sprawled innocently in the corner with a slightly edgy feeling. 

He nearly jumped when Kaiba replied on the communicator. "Hmm, no wonder the password isn't working. They rotate the codes so that it's not always the same one constantly. We have the wrong one."

"Fairly intelligent," another Kaiba voice came, sounding approving. "A simple strategy, but often effective."

"So what's the new code?" Mokuba asked, swallowing slightly. He suddenly wanted to get out of that room very badly.

Kaiba read off the sequence of numbers and letters slowly, giving his brother time to type them in without getting them out of order. This time, the code worked, and the password window disappeared, to be replaced with a list of security measures and programs that were used in the Domino Museum.

"Thanks, Big Brother," the boy murmured, hastily clicking up the laser security documents even as he spoke. 

"It wasn't a problem. I'll leave you to your work, if you don't need anything else."

"Right." 

From there, it was a matter of minutes to disable the security that would have caused them a problem. Mokuba finished the work up quickly and efficiently, then reverted the screens back to the way they had originally looked. If the guard came in, it would look as though nothing had been changed, and hopefully the alterations the black-haired boy had made would go unspotted. 

Feeling successful, the younger Kaiba pulled himself back into the ventilator shaft, screwed the grate back into its original position, and crawled off down the vast metal expanse of ventilating system, reversing the original directions so that he could make his way back to his two thief teammates.

As he crawled out of the shaft another ten minutes later, lowering himself to the tiled floor quickly, he noticed that Kaeru was grinning approvingly. "Very nice," the spirit commented. "Took control of the situation when it got out of hand. That's a good quality. It's a pity you're not an agent to the Opposition."

Mokuba grinned sheepishly in response. "Well...it was nothing special." He blinked and looked around. "Where's Kawari?"

"Here," came the answer from none other than the Negative Ryou himself. He was trotting up the hallway from where they had originally come, looking half bored, half entertained, as if this was all some game he was long since used to. "Back from scouting the guard for ya."

"Thanks."

"Not a problem," the hikari answered, dismissing it with a wave of his gloved hand. "Now, shall we get going?"

The three of them started off down the hall, now free to roam due to the deactivation of the laser sensors. It was fairly easy going; there were a few security cameras, but they were handled without problems (although there was a quick pause while they passed the Egyptian exhibits; Kaeru insisted that they stop long enough for him to look some of the artifacts over, as he was fairly interested in the ancient history of a Realm not his own). Within ten minutes, they had reached the stairwells that led down to the lower levels.

They slipped down the stairs with perfect silence, skirting around the lines of vision that the security cameras could focus on and passing the second floor (European History, for the record) without so much as a second glance. It was the first floor, after all, that was their destination. They reached it easily, but before Kaeru would allow Mokuba or his own aibou to pass through the double doors marked "Japanese History," he spoke.

"Okay," he murmured, looking thoughtful, "considering that the security codes were changed recently, it is probable that the guard's shifts have changed as well, and he may have a different round than he did before. That means we may have a problem with running into him; I planned this for taking a different path than we may have to now. Not that it's impossible," he added, seeing Mokuba's expression, "it just means we're playing this by ear."

Kawari shrugged. "Not much of a problem. I'll go scout it out. Be right back." Turning, he ghosted across the floor, pushed silently through the double-doors, and slipped out into the open rooms and exhibits beyond.

Roughly five minutes later he returned. "You're right, yami," he murmured, now looking slightly interested. "The rounds have changed; they're not the same as the ones you planned out. There's a possibility that we could run into the guard."

Kaeru frowned. "Hmm...where is he at the moment?"

Kawari shrugged. "About the middle of the floor. Not exactly close to us right now, but not exactly far enough for comfort either. And it looks like he's heading in the same general direction as us."

Kaeru grinned slightly. "Ah, so this task becomes more challenging? How interesting. It livens things up a bit, at any rate." He looked thoughtful for a moment, before murmuring, "All right. We'll just have to play this out fast and hard. No room for mistakes. The quicker we get to our destination, the quicker we can get out without being noticed." Kawari and Mokuba nodded, Mokuba looking nervous yet excited, Kawari just looking like somebody had given him a treat. 

Still grinning slightly, Kaeru turned and pushed open the double doors leading from the exhibits to the stairwells, holding it open so that Kawari and Mokuba could slip through without a sound. He closed it gently, then picked his direction and headed off, his two teammates trailing after him.

The going was slow, compared to their previous movement. Kaeru, not wanting to run into the guard, often took detours into side rooms and slunk around the large glass display cases, hoping to keep cover in case the guard was to come close. He often sent Kawari out as well to keep a lookout for the guard--the Negative seemed to have an excellent talent for scouting--and used the information brought back to him to plan his next move. 

In the end, however, they were forced to cross completely open ground in order to near their destination. One room in the museum, centered around ancient Japanese culture, was circular and large, with a huge open expanse of tiled floor and almost no cover. Four other hallways led out of the large, circular room, spaced out evenly so that it did not appear to look odd. Displays, paintings, and odds and ends were set up all around the walls of the room, looking neatly organized and in place where they stood. In the center of the circular room, seeming oddly _out_ of place in the open ground, was a positively _gigantic _display case, sitting on top of a large table draped with fabric, which proudly boasted a variety of swords, knives, spears, bows, and other weapons. 

"No good," Kaeru muttered, annoyed, staring across the wide expanse from where he and he two companions stood in one of the hallways. "We'll have to cross--we need to get over there." He pointed at the hallway directly across from them.

Kawari sighed. "We'll just have to make a break for it," he said, shrugging helplessly. 

"Mmm," the tomb robber agreed, though he plainly was not happy about it.

They started across, all but running to ensure that they would reach their destination before the guard managed to show up. Unfortunately, luck was not on their side, and before they had reached the display case in the center of the room they heard the heavy footsteps of the guard. 

"Duck down!" Kaeru hissed quietly, but firmly. He grasped Mokuba's shoulders and pushed him forward and down hurriedly behind the display case, which they had only _just _reached; Kawari performed a spectacular dive that was oddly silent and skidded to a halt next to them, crouching behind the table and it's fabric coverings that served as their shelter.

They were barely in time. Within the span of a few seconds, the heavy footsteps had entered the large display room and had come to a stop. There was silence for a few minutes, and then a voice asked slowly, "Is somebody there?"

Mokuba was wide-eyed with shock; the look increased when he saw the unfazed faces of Kaeru and Kawari. Geeze, didn't they panic at _anything?_

The footsteps began again, circling slowly around the room, and the voice called once more: "I said, who's _there?_"

Kaeru grimaced ever so slightly. If the guard continued to circle, they would be exposed within a few minutes, something he couldn't risk for a number of reasons. He'd just have to drive the guard off somehow...

Softly, he nudged his aibou in the ribs. Kawari, who was crouching next to him, looked over curiously.

What? he asked slowly, using the thought-link to protect their silence.

Have a coin? Kaeru asked quickly, fixing his eyes on his aibou in a questioning manner.

Yeah...here, the Negative Ryou muttered through the link, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a yen piece. He tossed it quickly to his tomb robber yami, who caught it easily and turned to face one of the halls that he and the others did _not _need to go through.

Taking careful aim, the ancient spirit drew back the hand containing the coin and threw it with a quick snapping motion of his wrist. The coin went spinning through the air quickly, nearly impossible to see in the shadows, and came down far inside the hallway Kaeru had aimed at with a loud, very noticeable _clink._

The guard instantly turned, taking the bait that had been set for him. "Who's there?!" the man growled, his heavy footsteps quickening as he trotted over to the hallway and went inside it. "I'm warning you--" he disappeared within one of the rooms to investigate, leaving the threesome alone.

Kaeru wasted no time. He pulled Mokuba up and ran--Kawari had already started moving--diving headlong towards the hallway they needed to go down as quick as they could without making noise to attract the attention of the guard. After what seemed like minutes, but couldn't have been more than a few seconds, they reached their destination and slipped inside, moving away from the circular room as quick as they could to avoid possible detection again.

"_That,_" Kawari said, sounding unusually calm, though a bit sarcastic, "was a close one."

"Indeed," Kaeru agreed, frowning slightly before shaking his head and looking at his surroundings. "Ah, but it's not as if it matters. We're nearly there."

"We are?" Mokuba asked, sounding partly surprised, but also partly pleased. "Awesome!"

"Come on," the tomb robber muttered, voice low, as he turned to head down the hallway they had already started down. "Let's go." He couldn't help but smile slightly, however, at the expression on the younger Kaiba's face at the realization that they had nearly made it to their destination.

They ran into several more security cameras--not a problem for them--and after another ten minutes of silent movement, they entered one of the rooms in the back wing. It contained several displays, placed neatly around the room, all of which had artifacts from the reserves they had been to earlier within their glass cases. 

"We're here," Kaeru said, a small, slightly dark grin sprouting on his face. 

"Now we just need to find the Scroll..." Kawari blinked and scanned over the room quickly, then moved forward suddenly, muttering, "Found it."

They gathered around one of the glass cases in the corner, staring down in awe at the fourth Realm Scroll--the Scroll of Hatred. It looked almost innocent, sitting on it's soft padding inside the glass case, but the three of them knew all to well of it's hidden powers.

Kawari bent down and read the plaque attached to the case out loud with interest. "_Ancient Scroll, dated back several thousand years Before Common Era. It bears writing that cannot be compared to any other language on Earth as is known; the characters seem to have no resemblance to modern or ancient Kanji. The characters can be compared closest to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, but many important differences suggest that it was a different Egyptian dialect or a different language altogether. Speculation suggests the Scroll bears important stories or 'spells' that played a large roll in the Ancient past; however, further studying must be done before this can be determined with confidence._" He smirked slightly. "It's amazing how close they can get without knowing one damn thing about the Scrolls at all." 

Kaeru shrugged. "I think they just guessed and got lucky." He rolled his eyes slightly. "In any case, that's not important. We need to get that Scroll out of there and back to the mansion so we can finish up our mission here." He looked over the case quickly, then pointed at a small metal box clamped to the stand the case was on. "That controls the sensors on the case. Can you disarm it?"

"Already working on it," the Negative Ryou murmured casually, kneeling down so that he was at eye-level with the box in question. He examined it quickly, then took out a few tools of his own, pried the metal box open, and began fiddling with the wiring inside.

Mokuba blinked. "You know how to do that?"

Kawari shrugged. "I know the basics. I've been learning from Kaze for the last couple of months, at any rate. Complex stuff I still can't do, but hey, I'm not complaining." He pulled one of the wires inside the box from it's place and reconnected it to another spot quickly.

Mokuba blinked, a little surprised, and then turned to Kaeru. "D'you do this stuff often?"

Kaeru shrugged. "I suppose, yeah. We're used for spying, scouting, and stealing from the Hand of the Shadow, and--"

He was cut off rather quickly as Kawari swore--fortunately, not very loudly--and hissed, "The damn thing shocked me!" 

Mokuba turned again to look at Kawari, who was glaring at the box in distaste and shaking his ungloved hand, looking annoyed. "You okay?"

"Fine," the Negative muttered. He tackled the sensor again, rewiring it carefully so as to disable the alarms (though with considerable swearing under his breath in what Mokuba heard enough of to recognize as English--very _angry _English). After several minutes he sat back, staring at his handiwork with a mixture of boredom and annoyance, and declared, "Done."

"Positive?" Kaeru asked, voice serious as he stared over at his aibou. In response, the Negative hikari held up his gloved index finger and calmly ran it over the glass case--no alarms were triggered as he did so, proving he had indeed finished.

"Good," the tomb robber said calmly, nodding in approval. "Now all that's left is the glass case." The case happened to be bolted to the stand it was on, but that wasn't much of a problem; the thief simply took a few of his prized lock picks and set to work. Five minutes later, the case was unbolted, and Kaeru very easily picked it up and set it on the ground next to his feet.

And there was the Scroll of Hatred, sitting innocently on it's cushioning before them. It glowed momentarily, as if hinting at it's untold powers, before the bright glow faded and left it looking like nothing more than a roll of dusty, ancient parchment. 

"There it is," Kaeru said, looking almost gleeful and rubbing his hands together as if he had just won an amazing prize. "Look at it. The _Fourth _Realm Scroll. Get this, and we're more than halfway through our tasks here." He grinned, and the mood caught; Mokuba was smiling widely within seconds, and Kawari had a satisfied smirk on his face. 

"Kawari...do you have the replacement Scroll?" the tomb robber asked abruptly, glancing over at his aibou.

The opposite Ryou nodded calmly, drawing an item from his pocket as he did so. "Yup, right here." 

The replacement turned out to be a fake Hatred scroll, modeled off of one of the other Scrolls they currently had possession of. It looked like it could have been the original, so well had it been modeled, and it made Mokuba blink in surprise. "What's _that _for?"

Kaeru shrugged. "It's doubtful we're going to have this Scroll given back to the museum by morning, and I think the staff would be just a _bit _suspicious if one of their display cases was suddenly empty. They'd _know _there was a thief, and we don't want that. So we have an imitation scroll here...they'll never know their own Scroll is gone, once we put this in the _true _Scroll's place." 

"Oh, I get it," Mokuba exclaimed softly, nodding. "That makes sense."

"All we need to do is switch it," Kawari agreed, nodding. "But before we can do _that..._we've got a Challenge to face."

Kaeru nodded grimly. "Then it would probably be best if we began it, wouldn't it?" The others nodded, and so he sighed, cracked his knuckles, and reached for the Realm Scroll of Hatred.

As before, with the last three Realm Scrolls they had encountered, a powerful, dangerous voice came into being as soon as Kaeru had gotten his hand within a foot of the powerful magical item. "_AH, AND SO AT LAST THE REALM SCROLL OF HATRED HAS BEEN SOUGHT OUT. FOR WHAT REASON HAVE YOU NEED OF THE MAGIC OF HATRED?_"

Kaeru looked quite calm, as did Mokuba and Kawari--all three had been expecting the voice, and it did not startle them. "We have come," Kaeru answered slowly, softly--so as not to be heard--"because we have need of the seven Realm Scrolls, so that we may restore the Shadow Realm to its original state and destroy the overflowing process of its magic."

"_I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN,_" the voice said, sounding almost annoyed with itself--a sound that was quite terrifying, coming from such a powerful, mysterious being they could not comprehend. "_EVERYTHING HAS BEEN SHIFTING OF LATE._" It paused momentarily, then added, "_BUT THAT IS NOT MY PLACE. MY PLACE HIS HERE, GUARDING MY SCROLL._"

Kaeru nodded calmly. "And it is your Scroll we wish to take possession of," he murmured, still softly. 

"_YOU WILL NEED TO PASS THE CHALLENGE I SET FOR YOU,_" the voice rumbled lowly. "_ARE YOU AND YOUR TWO COMPANIONS THE CHALLENGERS?_"

"We are," Kaeru answered respectfully.

"_VERY WELL. AND DO YOU ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE OF THE REALM SCROLL OF HATRED?_"

Kaeru nodded, Kawari and Mokuba also showing their eagerness to follow through with the Challenge. "We do."

"_THEN YOU--_" the voice began...but it was suddenly interrupted by a meek, young voice.

"I...I have a question," Mokuba Kaiba asked softly, looking nervous, but also curious. "May...may I...ask?"

The voice was silent for some time, and Mokuba began to tremble slightly, thinking he had angered it. Then...

"_HAD YOU BEEN ONE OF THE OTHER TWO YOU TRAVELED WITH, I WOULD HAVE DESTROYED YOU FOR ASKING SOMETHING OF MY KIND. YET YOU ARE YOUNG AND INNOCENT; FOR THAT, YOU MAY ASK ONE QUESTION. BUT ONLY ONE._"

The black-haired boy looked positively shaken, but nodded quickly. "Thank you," he murmured, trying to force as much respect as he could into his voice. "Thank you very much. I..." he licked his lips hastily; this voice scared him, now...but he continued on. "I was wondering...why...why didn't the people from the museum who found the Realm Scroll to begin with have to take a trial?" His voice gained confidence ever so slightly. "I mean," he continued, "I'm sure it would have been obvious if they had taken one...it would be in the news, at the very least." He frowned. "I'm just confused..."

The voice responded quickly, and it seemed somewhat...gentler. .having obviously picked up on Mokuba's fear. "_THE CHALLENGES ARE DESIGNED FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO POSESS OR USE THE POWER OF THE SCROLLS,_" it explained, as though speaking to a baby. "_THEY ARE MEANT TO PROTECT THE SCROLLS FROM ILL USE, FROM PEOPLE WHO WOULD ABUSE THEIR MAGICAL ABILITIES TO SPREAD EVIL. A CHALLENGE WOULD NOT BE GIVEN TO SOMEONE WHO DOES NOT EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT POWER THEY HOLD IN THEIR HANDS...AS WAS THE CASE OF THESE 'MUSEUM' PEOPLE._" It was silent for a moment before finishing with, "_WAS THAT ANSWER ENOUGH TO YOUR QUESTION, LITTLE ONE?_" 

Mokuba nodded slightly. "Yes...and again...thank you." 

"_ARE YOU READY TO BEGIN, THEN?_" the voice asked, now sounding impassive.

"Yes," Kaeru responded, having taken it upon himself to act as the spokesperson for their group.

"_VERY WELL,_" the voice murmured, becoming more powerful as it spoke and gaining a more formal tone. "_YOU SEEK TO GAIN THE FOURTH REALM SCROLL OF HATRED. HATRED IS A WOUND THAT DOES NOT HEAL WITHOUT PROPER CARE, A VIRUS THAT SPREADS THROUGHOUT THE CONSIOUSNESS AND BLURS THE GOALS OF ONE'S MIND. THEREFORE, YOU WILL BE TESTED TO SEE HOW WELL YOU CAN KEEP TO YOUR CAUSE DESPITE THE PROBLEMS YOU FACE. YOU WILL BE PLACED UNDER HARSH CONDITIONS AND BE GIVEN AN OBJECTIVE--YOU MUST COMPLETE IT SUCESSFULLY AS IS COMMANDED._"

"Right," Kaeru nodded, accepting the terms. "We're ready." He glanced over at his two companions, who nodded their agreement.

"_THEN BEGIN._"

Kaeru blinked for a moment, then suddenly opened his eyes wide, staring around the darkened museum room in surprise. The shadows...they were swirling out of their corners, coming closer, widening...spreading their darkness all around them, enveloping them in a blanket of Nothingness.

The spirit paled considerably. This place...this place of Nothing again...

He glanced over to his left, then his right. Kawari was nearby, floating in the Nothingness with the exact same shocked recognition playing over his features; and Mokuba was there as well, looking confused and nervous at the same time. 

And then, in a sudden wave of blankness, Kaeru's consciousness was torn from him, and he blacked out quickly, already on his way to the mental Realm of the Challenges.

*****

When Kaeru came to, he realized he was standing upright, as though he had fallen asleep on his feet and had just woken up. He blinked hazily, wincing slightly at the sudden change from the darkness of the museum and the Nothingness to the blinding glare of...of wherever he was now. 

Curious, and a bit surprised, he looked around the mental Realm he'd been transported to in order to partake in the Challenge set before him. It was..._odd_...that was perhaps the best word to describe it...and it reminded him vaguely of a patchwork quilt as he looked around.

He appeared to be standing on hot desert sand, in what appeared to be, for all the world, a miniature Egypt. Spreading far out in all directions were coarse sands, dark and almost glittering in the harsh sunlight, and to his right and perhaps fifty feet away the beginnings of a small oasis, with a few stunted trees surrounding a tiny pool of water.

Strangely enough, however, that was _not _the extent of the mental Challenge field. Perhaps two hundred yards from him to his left, the sand of the desert-like area suddenly came to a complete end, only to be replaced by what looked like a thick forest, filled with tall pine and fir trees. To his right, beyond the oasis, was a sudden spread of golden plains, with the tall grasses and flowers blowing in the wind that seemed to die as soon as it hit the desert border. In front of him by another five hundred yards, a wide expanse of snow flurried wildly in mid-blizzard, yet it did not begin to melt at the boundary between the heat and the cold; in fact, the snow had piled several feet high in it's own territory, cold winds blowing snow drifts about mercilessly. Beyond the snow territory, which stretched a good seven hundred yards wide, the frozen expanse stopped abruptly, to be replaced by a canyon, cliffs stretching high above their heads into the heavens beyond. And when he turned to look behind him, he saw the desert sands quite suddenly lightened in color, changed, and gave way to an ocean behind them.

"Well," came a dry voice that most certainly belonged to Kawari, "There's something you don't see everyday. Six climates in one. How pleasant."

"It reminds me of my brother's Virtual Pod game," Mokuba's voice came, sounding both awed and nervous.

Kaeru turned his head slightly, glancing over at his own aibou and the black haired boy next to him and noting where they were. Both seemed fine, so nothing had happened yet, at least not to his knowledge.

"What do we do now?" Mokuba asked, frowning slightly.

Kaeru shrugged. "Wait for instructions, I guess," he said, tapping his foot impatiently. Kawari also looked impatient, and started pacing around in circles in annoyance, waiting for _something _to happen.

"_OBSERVE THIS CLOSELY._"

The voice came so suddenly that they jumped--a rather interesting thing to see Kawari or Kaeru do, considering their previous ways of acting. All three of them calmed themselves quickly, however, and turned to face something that had begun to shimmer in the air in front of them.

After several seconds, the shimmering in the air took shape, and they found themselves staring up at a beautiful blue orb, rotating slowly above them. It looked as though it was made of glass or crystal, and reflected the light of the harsh sun above them, flashing the light in all directions like a beacon. 

As they watched, the orb shivered slightly, cracks beginning to run all over it's surface. Without warning, it suddenly shattered, pieces of it flying out all over the mental fields they were on in all directions. In barely any time it was gone, with nothing left to show it had existed.

"_THERE ARE SEVENTEEN PIECES OF THE JUDGEMENT ORB,_" the powerful, mysterious voice said impassively. "_THEY HAVE BEEN SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE DIFFERENT LANDS AND CLIMATES YOU HAVE SEEN. YOU MUST FIND THEM ALL AND REASSEMBLE THE JUDGEMENT ORB TO PASS THE CHALLENGE OF THE SCROLL OF HATRED. BEGIN._" 

The voice fell silent, leaving the three of them with the words hanging in their ears. Then, very slowly, Mokuba asked, "So...it's like...a Treasure Hunting Challenge?"

Kaeru grinned. "That's _exactly _it," he hissed, looking gleeful. "And we couldn't have picked a better team for it!"

The younger Kaiba looked confused. "Why?"

"Because I'm a _tomb robber,_" Kaeru said, still sounding absolutely pleased. "I made a _living _off of finding and stealing precious gems and other similar items. I'm practically _made _for this Challenge!"

Kawari frowned slightly. "Hey, don't take all the glory, Kaeru. I know how to do this stuff just as well as you do."

Kaeru raised an eyebrow and gave his aibou a critical side glance. "Are you saying you think you can do better in this Challenge than I can?"

Kawari gained a sudden competitive light in his eyes, even as Kaeru gained the same look. "Was that a challenge?"

Kaeru smirked. "You bet it was."

"You're on!" Kawari barked, meeting his yami's eyes. "Whoever gets the most pieces wins our little bet."

"And the looser takes on the paperwork for a week back home," Kaeru added, still with a cocky smirk on his face.

"Done deal!" The two shook on the bet, gloved hands meeting, before they suddenly whirled and took off, sprinting in different directions.

Mokuba sighed, watching the two depart--Kawari seemed to be heading for the plains on the right side of the Egyptian center, while Kaeru was darting for the forests on the left. "Oh well...I guess they forgot about me. But that's okay; I'll just search around this desert section for a bit." 

Rolling his eyes slightly, the black-haired boy turned around and strolled a few paces over the sandy desert ground, but then came to a sudden stop. He wasn't sure where to go, and the desert portion of this mental world was _huge_. He'd never be able to search it out inch by inch without taking an entire day, and there were still other climate portions to search out as well. 

Blinking, his gray eyes came to focus on the tiny oasis that sat innocently in the center of the desert area. _Good enough a place to start as any,_ Mokuba thought to himself, shrugging a bit, as he walked over the shifting, hot ground towards the stunted-yet-shady trees and small pool of somehow crystal-clear water. 

After several minutes, he came to rest at the edge of the pool, and looked around slowly. Nothing that he could see; no Orb pieces sitting out in plain sight, at any rate. 

He frowned slightly at this. _But...that doesn't make sense,_ he reasoned slowly. _The pieces are supposed to be _hidden,_ aren't they? Or it wouldn't be a Challenge, would it? I need to think sneakier...where could shards like that be hidden?_

He blinked, then looked up into the twisted, gnarled trees near the pool, squinting so as to see past the leaves and through to the trunk. He even walked around each tree, scrutinizing it carefully for holes in the bark, and climbed one that had a branch low enough for him to use as a hand hold, but each careful search brought the same result--nothing.

Sighing, he sat down on the sandy banks of the pool, placing his chin in his hands and thinking carefully. _Where could an Orb shard be?_ he thought to himself repeatedly, his eyes flickering over the pool as he did so. He absent-mindedly observed how the water reflected the light, thinking lazily of how the Orb had done the same thing when they had first seen it...

He sat up suddenly, looking surprised. _Why didn't I notice that before?!_ Mokuba thought to himself inwardly, irritated with himself. He scanned the pool again; there, on the far side of the bank, what appeared to be _something _half-buried in the wet sand was reflecting light brightly, although it was partly smothered due to it's coverings.

Slipping around the water hurriedly--it wasn't that long of a walk, the pool was so small--he came to a stop where he'd seen the glittering item in the ground. Bending down, he scraped the sand off of the object hurriedly, digging it out of the ground, and then dunked it gently in the water to wash it off completely.

When his hand withdrew from the cool water, he felt like grinning. For there, nestled in his palm, was a glittering blue shard of the Judgement Orb.

*****

Kaeru walked casually through the forest portion of the mental world, though his sharp eyes flickered continuously over the ground, never resting in their search for a piece of the Judgement Orb. He grinned slightly and felt the small pouch at his side that he always carried absent-mindedly; he had two shards of the Orb already. 

One he had found high up in the thin branches of an old fir tree, nestled gently in the three-pronged hold of several of the lesser branches--he'd had to climb up for it, something that had been difficult due to the weak branches that snapped too easily, but he'd managed to get the piece without too much trouble. The other had been lodged neatly in the bark of an old pine tree, as though it had been a meteor that had struck the trunk, burying deep inside the wood. That one he'd only seen because of the reflection the shard cast when caught by sunlight, but at least he'd discovered it; getting it _out _of the tree had been the difficult part, and in the end required the assistance of some of his Shadow Magic.

Now he continued on in his search through the forest, keeping a calm appearance but in reality ready for action at any second. Who knew, after all, what was in this mental Realm? From what he'd heard, the last mental world, the one the third Challenge had been held in, had contained a Shield Dragon of all things. That had taught him all too quickly that anything was possible in these places, of which he knew close to nothing.

His eyes darted over the surroundings again, both looking for anything suspicious as well as anything that could lead him to the next Judgement Orb shard. He didn't see any evidence of either, but he _did _notice, with interest, that this particular forest that he was in seemed to be coming to an abrupt end. 

Ahead of him, the trees suddenly changed, all aligned so it almost looked as if there were invisible fences between the two types of trees. On Kaeru's side were the simple fir and pine trees, trees that most people, by now, were used to--but on the other side were trees that towered over those of his forest, trees with thick green vines and leaves large enough to block out the sun. 

"Interesting," he mused, still walking forward. It had to have been another of those strange climate changes; he'd never seen something quite so strange as two opposite climates sitting right next to each other. Well, perhaps he had, but he had to admit this mental world was at least _one _of the stranger things he'd seen in his life.

Holding his breath slightly, the only indication that he may have been unsure about what he was doing, Kaeru stepped across the invisible boundary between one forest to another. Instantly, as soon as he crossed the barrier, the air became hot and muggy, humid and wet. He grimaced irritably; the heat was one thing, something he was used to, but the humidity...that was another thing entirely. At least in Egypt it had been hot and _dry._

Slightly interested, he passed his hand over the barrier again, back into the original forest he'd come from. His hand felt perfectly fine, even a bit cool, but as soon as it crossed over the invisible "line" between the two forests, it became hot and muggy once more.

"Odd," Kaeru murmured, raising an eyebrow. "The air stays in it's own boundaries. Humidity doesn't cross over into that other forest." He shook his head, sighing. "This place is _very _strange."

_Ah, but enough of that_. He turned and headed into this new forest--a rainforest, he decided--once again scanning for any traces of a Judgement Orb shard. 

It was after he had been walking for several minutes that he stepped into a sudden clearing. He blinked in surprise momentarily; he hadn't even _seen _the clearing, and here he was in it. This place couldn't get weirder...But that thought stopped in his tracks as he stared at what was housed in the clearing.

"Hello, what's this?" the ancient spirit mused, cocking his head quizzically in interest. There, sitting before him, were the ancient ruins of what had most likely been a temple at some point in time. It had an air of the ancient Aztec or Myan ruins, with it's different colors and structures, and altogether it attracted the attention of the tomb robber standing only yards from it.

"Interesting," Kaeru murmured, a grin growing on his face, before moving forward towards the entrance to the ruins. "Let's see if you're hiding any pretty blue shards, shall we?"

*****

Kawari tracked over the plains with pure determination, looking this way and that for the glittering bits of the Judgement Orb with his sharp, detail-oriented eyes. He'd found one piece so far, lodged in a mound of dirt that had been mysteriously piled up in the middle of the fields, something that had not been at all that hard to notice--or at least for him. Unfortunately, he had the feeling that he'd chosen a bad climate to start in; the grasslands just didn't seem to have any of those annoying hiding places the shards seemed to love, and he had a feeling he was wasting his time. 

Slightly irritated, Kawari turned to head to the next climate, the Ring banging against his chest as he moved and reminding him of the bet he was in with his yami. Vaguely he wondered how many pieces his darker half had, then grew more determined. 

_There's no _way _I'm letting him defeat me in a Challenge like this, _the Negative Ryou told himself confidently. _I'll find a way to get more shards than he does. _He grinned to himself slightly, staring down at the Ring, before he suddenly blinked.

_Waiiiiit a second...the Ring! I wonder if I can find the pieces with it..._well, there was nothing to be lost by trying, he decided. Lifting the Ring in his gloved hand, he concentrated as his yami had taught him and brought together the powers of the Ring.

"Show me where the next Judgement Orb shard is," he commanded, speaking clearly and with a tone of business in his voice. He'd long since learned that the Ring was much like a person; if you didn't sound like you were in charge, it wasn't going to plan on doing what you said. You had to be firm with it. 

The Ring shivered momentarily, and one of it's pointers attempted to raise feebly, but it did nothing. Kawari blinked momentarily before recalling that the Ring was not made for finding Judgement Orb shards, but other Millennium Items, and therefore it was having trouble. Shrugging, the white haired Negative drew his first Orb piece from his pocket, holding it close to the Ring as if offering to let it learn the magical signature the shards gave off.

It worked. After a few seconds, the Ring's pointer raised and aimed with confidence towards Kawari's left. The teen turned, trotted in the indicated direction, and within the span of a few minutes had dug another piece from the ground and had added it to his collection. Now he had two.

Smirking slightly, Kawari asked the Ring, "Any others here?" the item did not respond with the raising of it's pointers, so the teen assumed that was a 'no.'

"Right, then," the opposite Ryou murmured, shrugging. "To the next climate." Turning, he walked quickly out of the heart of the plain, towards the next portion of land--the snowstormy arctic. 

He grimaced slightly as he approached the next climate. He was standing on the border, yet strangely enough, he couldn't feel the cold of the biting wind or snow, though he felt sure he should have. Frowning slightly, Kawari asked the Ring, "Is there one in there?"

In reply, all five pointers rose, straining as if trying to tear themselves from the Ring they were bound to in order to locate the shard in question. 

Kawari sighed. "I was afraid of that," he muttered dully. "Well, I suppose it can't be helped." He grimaced. "I'll just have to get in and out real quick before I freeze." 

This said and determination flaring, Kawari took a final deep, preparing breath, zipped his leather jacket closed, and dove into the raging blizzard after the shards of the Judgement Orb.

*****

Mokuba stopped for a rest back at the oasis, but he could not hide the feeling of success that he now held with him. Reaching into his pockets, he pulled out the second shard piece that he had found out on the sands and grinned. 

The find had been completely by accident, he knew that, but that fact didn't dampen his spirits in any way. He'd seen the reflection the shard created, the harsh sun beating down on it, and had rushed out to the middle of the sandy grounds in order to claim it. A find was a find, and that meant they were one step closer to passing this Challenge and getting the Realm Scroll of Hatred. 

Taking a final deep breath, he pulled himself up onto his feet from where he'd been leaning against one of the stunted trees of the oasis. Grinning broadly, he replaced the second shard safely in his pocket and began to walk out into the desert sands once more, looking ready for anything as he began the search for a third piece of the Orb.

*****

As soon as he crossed the barrier, the bitter, stinging cold began to rip at Kawari, blasting his face cruelly and digging through his clothing to attack his very flesh. The sudden transfer from warmth to freezing cold shocked him momentarily, and he froze in his tracks, gloved hand up to protect his face from the lashing flurries of snow. 

_Damnit, _he thought to himself, grimacing at the cold, _so this wasn't one of my brighter moves..._

Instantly shivering and trying to shrink into his coat more, he started off slowly in the direction the Millennium Ring indicated, plowing his way through the feet of piled up snow. His hair whipped around his face, blending in with the furious snow due to it's silver-white color, and he could barely see a foot in front of himself. He could, however, focus on the Ring's glow, and followed it faithfully, knowing it would not let him down. 

After a good ten minutes of slugging through the hard, packed snow, the Ring's pointers dropped suddenly, the item coming to rest back on his chest. Sighing in growing exhaustion, the white-haired teen dropped to his knees, hurriedly pulling out _Gin Hebi _to dig at the piled snow--he felt his hands would literally freeze if he tried to use them to dig instead.

It took another ten minutes to free the shard, time that sapped the Negative Ryou's strength dangerously, but he was completely devoted to his task and succeeded. He pulled the blue, glittering shard free of it's snowy prison, smiled faintly, and then placed it in his pouch next to the two others he'd found in the grasslands. Then, struggling to his feet, he wearily asked the Ring once more: "Are there any other Shards here?"

The Ring answered him instantly, pointers rising and indicating a direction off to his right. Grimacing once again, Kawari pulled his collar higher around his neck and trudged off through the snow again.

His exhaustion showed in his search; it took the better part of twenty minutes to locate the shard, and another fifteen to free it. His hands were shaking and turning blue by that point, and his un-gloved hand had begun to go numb. He knew, both rationally and instinctively, that he had to get out of these cold conditions, or things wouldn't look so good for him.

Huddling even further into his coat, he murmured softly to the Ring, "Which way do I go?" 

The Ring, almost sensing its master's distress, lifted gently and indicated with it's right-sided pointers which way to move. Stumbling in fatigue, Kawari lurched off in that direction, head down against the cold and the biting wind and arms wrapped around him for what little warmth they could give.

He felt like he had walked for ages before taking a hurried glance up, risking exposing his face to the wind. He blinked in surprise at what he saw; he was barely five steps from the barrier that separated the blizzard climate from one of it's neighbors, although it wasn't' the grasslands he had entered from to begin with; he was facing the canyon zone, it's reddish-brown stone hardened in the harsh light that beat down on it.

Kawari didn't care where it came out, so long as he got out of that gods-damned blizzard. Stumbling wildly, he broke through the barrier, the blessed warmth washing over him before he collapsed on the warm stone to lay there silently.

*****

Kaeru dived aside as the latest trap within the temple was triggered, sending boulders, stones, and various debris crashing down from the ceiling above him. Grimacing, he rubbed his shoulder where he'd been unfortunate enough to be struck, silently thanking the gods that it wasn't his head. Sure, he couldn't _die,_ but his physical body could, and it's death still remained extremely painful.

Once the last of the debris had finished falling and the dust had cleared, the tomb robber stepped over them, coming to stand by the trigger that had set it all falling. Leaning close, he studied it momentarily, a little surprised at how cunningly it had been hidden, even from himself. He made a mental note to search out similar triggers in the future, then turned and continued on down the hall, musing.

The temple seemed to have an abundance of traps, he had discovered fairly quickly. Most of them he had been able to avoid or remove, but a few had been so cleverly placed that even he could not find them, and they had nearly taken the existence of his physical body as a result. It was a dangerous temple that he doubted anybody but himself and a few choice others would have been able to enter and leave still living.

On the other hand, the temple seemed to be a gold mine. Every room he'd passed had been full of ornately carved golden jewelry, tableware, ornaments, and other items; it was only thinking rationally and telling himself that the items would be completely gone when he left the mental Realm that kept him from placing a few of the best pieces in his pockets as he passed. 

He'd already found a third Orb shard in here, too, glittering innocently just beyond one of the traps that had been laid. He'd managed to render the trap useless before taking the shard, and it now rested easily next to it's two companions inside his pouch.

Still thinking to himself, he passed yet another room heaped with gold, this time ancient weapons with golden hilts and studded with jewels. This time as he passed, however, he suddenly stopped, blinked in surprise, and backed up, entering the room with interest. 

He'd thought he'd seen something unusual in the room, he realized after a few seconds, but now he wasn't so sure. There was nothing more than a pile of gold, studded here and there occasionally with rare gems that he could tell were worth quite a lot, even on quick observation. 

He blinked and frowned again, staring at the gems. Something wasn't _quite _right about one of them...

He suddenly broke into a grin, bending down to pull one from the pile, smirking at the small Judgement Orb shard in his hand. "Thought you could hide, did you?" he asked the air conversationally, placing the fourth shard in the pouch at his side. "It's not that easy to hide from a tomb robber, you know." Turning, he exited the room.

"Let's see what the rest of this place has to hide..."

*****

Kawari laid still on the warm stone ground for several minutes quietly, simply resting and regaining his strength. He could feel the warmth beginning to work its way into his hands again, with the blue tint of his skin slowly fading away into it's usual pale color. His exhaustion was creeping away as well--he'd always been a quick recoverer--and in a few minutes he pulled himself gingerly to a kneel and stared around at the new portion he'd stumbled into, rubbing his hands. 

It was a canyon, all right, and he appeared to be in the bottom of it, at the base of the tall, rocky cliffs that towered over him. It was pleasantly warm, but as far as the eye went, everything was one, solid, bland color--brownish-red. 

Kawari frowned slightly, then shrugged, pulling himself to his feet and steadying himself when he swayed a bit. He took a few moments to regain his balance, then slowly started off around the canyon bottom, looking around with interest for the shards--they should stand out decently well here, what with their bright blue color.

He was right. Ten minutes later, another shard had been added to his collection, bringing his total number of Judgement Orb shards up to five. Grinning mischievously, he glanced about himself, looking around the canyon for other telltale signs of an Orb piece.

He didn't see any, however, and frowned slightly. "It can't be _that _hard to locate on here. It's blue, after all, and they stand out really well...I saw that myself. At the very least I'd see some sort of light reflection. So...where the heck is it?"

The answer came rather unexpectedly, for it appeared that the Millennium Ring had interpreted this question as an order. Wearily, as though it had been through too much work, the Ring's middle pointer rose and indicated unceremoniously upwards, somewhere high up on the cliff.

Kawari blinked in surprise at the Ring's movement, then shrugged and looked up at where his Item pointed. "The ledge up there?" As if in response, the pointer dropped moodily, no longer bothering to indicate where the shard piece was if its master knew. 

The Negative Ryou grimaced. "Damn...that's pretty high up." He sighed, then stepped forward to the cliff side, grasping a pair of handholds and beginning the climb.

The accent was fairly easy; to begin with, there were large handholds that he could easily grab, and for another, he was fairly light and could move up without much trouble, as he had pointed out to Mokuba earlier. He shot up skillfully, pushing himself up with his legs, pulling himself up with his hands if the need came, performing more difficult skills such as hop-skipping from one foothold to the next or switching his hands and feet around to open up new holds. Always he stayed close to the rock face, knowing that if he even _began _to lean back, he would peel right off the cliff and fall-something he could not afford without proper climbing equipment.

After a good fifteen minutes of climbing, he stopped to take a break, leaning in close to the wall and panting slightly from the speedy climb. Looking over his shoulder slightly, he realized he was close to seventy-five feet up, and grimaced slightly at what might happen should he suddenly loose his holds and fall. 

He was about to continue his accent--the ledge was only twenty five feet or so above him, now--but something stopped him. He supposed it was instinct, though were it came from he'd had no idea--perhaps it was one of those qualities he had inherited from his yami. Whatever it was, it kept him from moving upward--for he had the strange suspicion that there was something about twenty feet to his left that would be of great importance to him.

Logic screamed at him to ignore the instinct, to not risk traversing across the rock face on a hunch that might turn out to be false. _It isn't safe, it's dangerous, you could fall, moving across is more difficult than moving up or down..._Nevertheless, despite these very obvious things raging inside his mind, Kawari set his jaw and slowly began the sideways movement towards where his instinct led him. 

It took a good, slow-paced ten minutes for him to succeed--much of the rock was weathered and some of the holds were not safe to grasp--but he reached where his mind told him to go and stopped, clinging to the cliff face and staring at the spot in confusion. Nothing was there...unless...

Maneuvering a bit so that he could stay on the face with only one hand and both feet, Kawari reached inside his coat and pulled out a blade. Not _Gin Hebi;_ he didn't want to ruin his precious dirk with rock work--this was a standard knife, the same one Kaeru had used earlier, in fact. Carefully, the white-haired teen scraped at some of the loose rock in the spot his instincts had led him to, hoping it might uncover something...

It did. After several minutes of makeshift digging, Kawari unearthed a gleam of shining blue, a shard that had miraculously been buried _in _the cliff wall. Grinning to himself slightly, Kawari tightened his grip on both the handhold and his knife, digging further into the rock face to completely free the shard. 

It was almost free, with just a small section of it still trapped within the rock, when the opposite Ryou's war-trained instincts screamed at him again. _Falling!_

He registered the thought only seconds before he felt a stomach-wrenching lurch, and then the handhold he had been using to hold himself to the rock wall snapped, broke, and crumbled away from him, leaving him unsuspended seventy five feet above rocky ground.

*****

Mokuba kicked at the sandy ground moodily, annoyed. He hadn't found another Orb shard in a while, and it was starting to anger him; he felt useless in this Challenge already, having been put into it with two people who were _far _superior in this type of skill than he was. 

He sighed to himself, attempting to be more optimistic. _At least I have two pieces, _he reminded himself, pulling the glittering blue shards from his pocket to stare at them. They glittered innocently in the harsh sun, but it was almost like they were mocking him.

Furious, he kicked at the ground again, sending sand in all directions in little glittering waves. 

_Wait..._glittering?

Startled, he dived forward, coming to his knees on the soft sand and pawing at the ground. It took him five minutes, sifting through the sand carefully, but his work rewarded him...he soon found a third shard sitting on the ground, gleaming just like its two partners in Mokuba's hands.

The black haired boy grinned. A lucky shot there, but as long as he had the shard...

_Another one down..._

*****

Kaeru smirked as he approached a table near the end of one of the rooms in the temple, on which was perched a glittering shard of the Judgement Orb. It hadn't been all that difficult to track down, once he'd discovered where to look; it was just a simple matter of narrowing down where he'd been in the temple and where he hadn't. 

Now, he neared the last shard that could be found in the temple, grinning slightly. He reached out his hand for it, prepared to put it away in the pouch at his side with the other four...and withdrew his hand suddenly on pure instinct as a knife came thudding down where his fingers had been a moment before. 

_But there were no traps, I'm positive of that! _the tomb robber thought to himself, leaping back instinctively. Another possibility came to his head. _It must have been a magical ward..._

He slipped left hurriedly as another knife came raining down from the ceiling above, barely missing being cleaved through the head. From there, it was as if the ceiling had opened up and began pouring knives; Kaeru was forced to duck, dodge, roll, and weave wildly to avoid the blades. Cuts soon populated his skin, though most of them were shallow and did not bleed badly. They would, however, slow him down, and he knew he needed to get out of there quickly.

Dashing wildly to his left, he zigzagged between the falling trap blades and reached out completely at random for the shard still sitting innocently on the table at the end of the room. Amazingly, he grabbed it, holding it tightly in his hand and pulling his arm back so that it was not an open target for the falling blades; then, still dodging crazily, he ran for the closest doorway he could reach, diving headlong into it and running non-stop out of the room. 

He found himself in a hallway. Not hesitating, he tore down the length of it, not sure what other traps may have been triggered by that magical ward; those always tended to have more than one catch, and most of them were unforeseen. He needed to get _out _of that temple, and quick. 

He reached the end of the hallway rather suddenly and dived out into the forest quickly, thanking Ra that he'd gotten out of there in time. He was only too soon; as he turned, the entire ruin collapsed behind him, crushing everything within it. Had he still been in there, he, too, would have been nothing more than a crushed yami spirit, body dying slowly until it could return to the Ring. He grimaced at that picture in his head and shook it out with an angry growl.

Still irritated, and also somewhat relieved, the tomb robber stared down at the innocent little shard still clasped in his hand. He frowned at it before stuffing it in the pouch with his four other pieces and beginning to walk away from the temple clearing.

He was sure he'd exhausted the shards that had been hidden in the forest area completely; he had five of them, after all, and it didn't seem that there would be any more in this one area. 

Thinking to himself softly, he finally muttered out loud, "I suppose it's time to check out a new climate zone." This seemed like a good idea, so without hesitation he turned to his left and began threading through the gigantic trees towards where he knew another climate was located: the ocean.

*****

Kawari gave a wild yell of dismayed surprise as his hand came loose from the wall, and with nothing to hold him up, he began to fall, plummeting backwards towards the ground below. His mind had a moment of shock, in which everything seemed to freeze for the white-haired teenager, but after a few seconds of this thoughtless falling his training snapped to work and he took action.

The knife was still in his hand; he hadn't dropped it, for which he was grateful. Working quickly, he reared the blade back and jammed it into the soft rock, sending it deep into the cliff face and effectively creating a handhold. He gripped it for all he was worth as he came to a sudden stop, then scrabbled hurriedly for another handhold and places for his feet as well. He found them in a matter of seconds--it was life or death, after all--and spent a full two minutes just clinging to the wall, panting hard. 

_Okay, so that was _definitely _scary, _he thought to himself, eyes still wide from the fall. His limbs were trembling, both from the sudden terror and shock of the fall, as well as the immense physical action that had been taken in order to save himself. Nevertheless, he stayed on the cliff face expertly, giving himself a few minutes to calm down before he returned to his task--because as scary as it had been he _needed _that Judgement Orb shard. 

Once he judged himself able to continue, Kawari slowly and carefully began to climb back up, regaining the height he'd lost when he fell. This time, he tested each hand or foothold carefully before using it; he wasn't a fool, and never made the same mistake twice. 

He made it back to his original position quickly, and found himself staring at the little shard that had caused him so much trouble. He was glad he had managed to nearly dig it out to begin with, and used his knife simply to lever the shard out of it's hole in the rock; after a few moments of maneuvering, he was able to snatch the bluish piece with one of his hands and stuff it into the pouch at his side. 

_Now for the other shard that the Ring indicated, _Kawari thought to himself, beginning to traverse back to his original climb so that he could continue up towards the ledge that had been his goal in the first place. _Once I get it, that'll be seven shards...not bad._

The climb up was fairly easy after what he'd been through; it was simple and straightforward, all the handholds strong and easy to grip. The only difficult part, Kawari realized after a moment, would be the overhang that the ledge happened to be a part of.

The overhang cast a shadow over the Negative Ryou as he climbed, stretching out over him--not too far, but enough so that it would be no simple matter of pulling himself over to the ledge. 

Yet despite the difficulty level, Kawari could not help but grin. He always loved a challenge; anything that was supposedly difficult (and in some cases carried a certain amount of risk with them) was something he was positively dying to try. This overhang would be tricky, of course, and there was no denying the danger that it presented, but all the same the Negative was rather looking forward to it.

Technique and strategy, he mused, were really the key to getting over such an obstacle, and as soon as he reached the rock jutting out above him he began to use both. Walking his hands out as far as he could on the underside of the overhang while keeping his feet planted firmly on the vertical wall, he stretched himself thin, still keeping his body as flat to the surface as possible. He chuckled as he realized he was now upside-down, one hundred feet above the air, with no harnessing equipment--just about everybody at the Opposition, his yami included, would call him positively insane.

His feet came next. He walked those out as well on the holds that he could find until he reached the edge of the overhang that lead up to the top of it. Swinging one of his legs over quickly, he used it as a hook to hold himself up, throwing his hands over and half pulling, half rolling himself on top of the ledge. 

"There," he said, looking bored, "that was easy enough." He chuckled slightly, taking a quick break while looking around for the shard on top of the platform-like ledge.

And there it was, gleaming in the sunlight and sitting safely in the middle of the ledge. Grinning triumphantly, he added it to his collection, patting the seven shards through the cloth of the pouch before swinging his legs over the side of the ledge and sitting.

He gazed out over the landscape with interest; he could see very far, being at the highest point in this strange mental Realm with no landmarks above him. He could easily see that the different climate zones were spread out like wide squares all over the place, in various, random patterns that didn't seem to make sense. The desert seemed to be the center zone, with the others branching off in all directions as far as the eye could see in any direction. 

"Weird," he muttered, blinking slightly. He'd never thought he'd see a blizzard-strewn arctic sitting right next to blazing, sandy Egypt, after all...

And speaking of that blizzard...he did _not _want to go through that arctic zone again. The cold had nearly struck him down, and he knew that it would be unsafe to go through there again without any of the supplies. Blinking, he stared down at the layout of the land, quickly selecting a path that would go _around _the arctic climate, cut through what appeared to be savanah, and enter the grasslands that he had started in. From there, he reasoned, he should probably check back with the others in the desert zone and see how they were doing...and, of course, see how many shards his yami had. 

Grinning slightly, Kawari stood up, moved towards the cliff wall, and began his decent down so that he could return and see how his competition was coming along.

*****

Kaeru stared glumly at the crashing waves of the ocean, fingering his six shard in his hands absent-mindedly while wondering how on _earth _he was going to get the seventh on from it's current position. It was going to be difficult, for the shard had decided to hide _in _the water, and although he knew quite well it's location, getting it out of there was going to be a problem.

The ocean seemed to have a tropical touch to it; the water was clear and sparkling by ocean standards, and there were even a few reefs skirting the coast, colorful and almost pretty. 

That, however, was the problem. While Kaeru had been able to find the sixth shard when it washed up on the shoreline, the seventh, he could see, was lodged deep between two of the coral structures some distance out. It caught the light almost beautifully and reflected it in such a way that it was almost impossible to miss seeing it, even from Kaeru's distance. But how on earth was he supposed to get out to the reef to get the seventh shard?

_Swim, I suppose, _Kaeru thought dully. He wasn't exactly looking forward to it, however--while he did know how to swim, he didn't particularly enjoy it. Oh well; he'd just have to deal with it. 

He removed his jacket, and then the shard pouch from his belt, and dropped them onto the shore where the water would not wash them away, fighting the impulse to bury the pouch for safekeeping--there was no one there who would actually _steal _it from him, after all, since he doubted Mokuba or even Kawari would. Grimacing, he waded into the water, slightly surprised at how warm it was. 

He walked out up to his neck, the baggy clothing his aibou--and therefore he--wore billowing in the water, and his white hair floating out behind him softly. Looking slightly annoyed now, he kicked off from the ocean bottom and swam forward, moving as quickly as possible to get it over with. 

Reaching the reef was not _too _difficult; the only hard part was fighting the waves as they crashed forward, attempting to push him back to the shore, or worse, to push him under the water. He was able to push past them, however, and after a good fifteen minutes of swimming he had reached the calmer ocean surface. Five more minutes after that, he was at the reef, treading water as he tried to find the shard again. 

_There..._he'd spotted it once more, thanks to it's light reflection; he was actually quite close to it. Kicking again, he swam forward until he was swimming almost _over _it...and that was when he discovered that the shard was quite far down in the water. 

"Damnit," the spirit growled, ignoring the salty taste of the water as it got into his mouth. He'd have to dive, now, something he looked forward to even less than swimming. 

Sighing, he took one last breath, then plunged under the surface, kicking downward hurriedly. His strong arms pushed him down still further, and he shot down fairly quickly. Within twenty seconds or so, he had reached the level of the reef that the shard was nestled in gently. 

Grimacing, even underwater, the spirit lunged his hand between the two coral structures, grasping at the shard. The sharp coral edges cut his hand, and blood floated in a daze out of it, but he didn't care; he could feel the pressures of running out of air now, and he wanted to get out of there quickly. 

At last, he snatched the shard into his hand, holding it tightly to ensure that he wouldn't drop it, and pulled it free from between the corals, spilling more of his own blood in the process. Far past caring, he kicked off against the coral, rocketing himself upward towards the blessed air that his physical body needed as fast as possible...

He broke the surface in a rush, gasping for breath and spitting out the salty water in his mouth. After several seconds of simply breathing and treading water, he raised the hand still holding the shard and stared at the piece he had just recovered. 

"Number seven," he hissed, sounding amused. "And what trouble you caused, too." Growling a bit in annoyance, he began the swim back to the shore, this time allowing the powerful waves to aid him in getting to the sandy banks. 

As soon as he trudged up onto the beach, he wrung out his hair and clothing, still looking rather irritable. Once he was at least not _dripping _wet, he shrugged on his jacket again, then picked up the pouch and placed his seventh shard inside it, making sure the others were all still there (another instinctive habit that had not left him as a tomb robber). 

He thought carefully for a moment about his next move, absent-mindedly fingering the shard pieces through the pouch at his side as he did so. He wasn't sure where to go next to get an Orb shard, but then again he didn't know how many shards the others had, either. For all he knew, they could have all been collected by now, or there still could be ten out there waiting to be discovered. 

Sighing, he almost unconsciously walked towards the desert zone, still fingering the shard pouch as he did so. Maybe he should try to find the other two, though Ra knew where they were--there were too many climate zones to choose from, and they could be in any one. 

He was spared this particular search, however, as he crossed into the desert border. Several hundred yards away from him, next to the oasis, he thought he could just barely make out the shape of his aibou, and next to him a shorter shape that had to be Mokuba. 

_How fortunate, _he thought to himself, somewhat dryly, as he paced forward, taking his time about his movement. Ten minutes later, and he was striding into the oasis to come to a stand next to his lighter half, smirking slightly. 

"So, you two decided to do the same thing, did you?" he asked conversationally, still fingering the pouch, which both of the other two noted with sharp eyes. "Coming back here, at any rate?"

"Pretty much," Kawari answered, the competitive glint in his eyes still strong. "Decided I'd better check up on how many shards you guys had before I went searching more." 

"Great minds think alike," Kaeru replied, smirking a bit in his own competitive expression. "So tell me, how many shards did you manage to get?"

Kawari raised an eyebrow and shot back, "How many did _you _get?"

There was silence for a moment, and then both opened their mouths and spoke at the same time. "Seven." Another silence, and then...

"What?!" they both yelped at the same time, looking startled. "No way!"

Mokuba rolled his eyes as they broke into a competitive argument, sighing and waiting impatiently for it to finish. 

"But there's 17 total, that's an odd number, one of us should have more!" Kawari hissed, sounding annoyed.

The black-haired teen at their side coughed loudly to gain attention, and then spoke. "You forgot about me. _I _have three shards."

Another silence followed, which in turn was followed by an equally loud outburst from both sides.

"That's completely unfair! One of us should have beaten the other!"

"By _Ra, _it ended in a gods-damned _tie?!_"

Mokuba sighed and yelled over their arguing voices; these guys were getting a bit _too _competitive now, and were loosing focus on the matter at hand. "Guys? We have all seventeen shards! Let's put the Judgement Orb back together and just finish this Challenge up...we need to get back to the others at the mansion, remember?"  
Kaeru and Kawari both looked a bit irritable, but finally nodded, shaking on the matter. "A tie," the spirit said, a bit forcefully, to which Kawari nodded again and stayed silent. 

Mokuba grinned slightly; this was almost funny to watch. There was no doubt about it that Kawari was Kaeru's reincarnation. "Okay," he said hurriedly, taking out his three shard pieces, "here are mine. What about yours?"

Kawari pulled a pouch from his belt and dumped out seven pieces into the palm of his hand, Kaeru doing much the same with his own seven pieces. "Here."

"Okay...so now it's just like a puzzle, right? We just need to put it back together..." Grinning slightly, Mokuba picked up two pieces at random to see if they would fit together and immediately started the Orb puzzle.

"A puzzle, yes," Kaeru said, rather dryly. "Too bad we don't have Yugi with us, or this would be a snap."

The Orb, however, was not that difficult to fit back together, and only took twenty minutes or so, with each of them kneeling around the pile of pieces and slowly fitting them back into their original positions. When two pieces were joined, the crack seemed to melt away, forming it into one again, and soon they had nearly the entire Orb reassembled perfectly, without a scratch on it.

"Here's the last piece," Mokuba proclaimed, taking up the final glittering shard and fitting it into place. It melted into the hole that waited for it, the cracks disappearing as had all the others; the Judgement Orb then flashed once, blindingly brightly, until all they could see was white.

When the light cleared, they found themselves standing once again around the display case for the Scroll of Hatred. Momentarily startled, they blinked around at each other before Mokuba asked softly, "Did...we beat it?"

As if to answer, the voice came once again, stating humbly the exact same phrase its last three brother guardians had said. "_I AM DEFEATED._"

"Does that answer your question?" Kaeru asked, laughing slightly--though quietly. 

Kawari grinned as well, but then the smile faded as he looked around him hurriedly. "We need to get out of here, Kaeru," he murmured, glancing at the Scroll of Hatred in it's case. Understanding, Kaeru nodded, removing the Scroll gently and with respect, while Kawari replaced it with the copy Scroll to ease the suspicions of the museum officials.

Mokuba watched in silence, observing the scene quietly, but then his communicator beeped once more and he hastily opened the connection to speak. "Yeah, Big Brother?"

"You guys okay in there?" one of the Kaibas asked, sounding slightly worried. "You've been in there for a while."

Mokuba grinned, even though his brother couldn't see the expression. "We're fine, Seto," he murmured softly, but with an excited manner. "We just got the Scroll of Hatred!"

"You passed the Challenge and everything?" 

"Yeah...just finished." Mokuba was quite pleased, and it showed in his voice.

Kawari had been listening to the conversation on his own ear piece, and added calmly, "Give us an hour to reset all the security we messed with, and we'll be out. See you then."

"Right." The link clicked off, and the trio of thieves, having reset the display case to the way they had found it, turned and left the silent, shadowy wing of the museum behind.

*****

An hour and a half later back in Kaiba's mansion, the entire Scroll-hunting group of twelve had reassembled once more and was gathered in the gigantic library that had seemed to become their unofficial meeting place. Kawari, Kaeru, Kaze, Mokuba, and Kaiba had only just returned; they'd come back to find most of the group asleep, but with a few "sleep guards" set up to wait for them (Saguru had, without a doubt, enforced this idea). Now, however, the entire group was wide awake and ready to listen to the tales of the three that had been in the theft team.

Grinning, the trio had told of their latest adventure, going through the details of both the theft and the Challenge with great enthusiasm. When they reached the end of the tale, Kaeru took out the newest addition to the Realm Scroll collection and showed it to the others calmly, almost as if to prove what they had done was real; then, quite calmly he removed the latest verse that would lead to the next Realm Scroll and handed the magical item to their keeper, Kaze. 

Kaeru read the verse to himself, slowly, one, two times, as the others looked on with barely controlled impatience. His frown deepened by the second as he read, and then, very quietly, he murmured, "I hate to say it, but...I think we have a problem."

*****

HCG: AND...it is finished. And HOLY CARPS was that long...OO;;;

Kawari:...'Holy carps?'

HCG: ¬_¬;; Do not insult my expressions...*smirk* "Mate."

Kawari: -_-; You know perfectly well I don't use those expressions. I haven't lived in England in AGES.

HCG: I know, but it's so fun to make fun of you for it ^^ Who could imagine Kawari saying "Mate" or "Great Scott," after all?

Saguru: O_o not many...

Kawari: -_-;; You're not helping

Saguru: *sweatdrop* ^^;;

HCG: Anyway. For the sake of keeping this as short as possible...TO THE REVIEW RESPONSES! And note, I only responded to a few who asked big questions or did something in their review in particular that I liked, because, to be frank--there's just too many now to reply to nearly all of you *sweatdrop* ^^; which I suppose is a good thing for me...anyway:

****

Linchi ~ A goddess and a demon in one person, eh? Well...don't think I've heard a description quite like that one before ^^;; At least you didn't' have to wait TOO long after reviewing. Hope you enjoyed!

****

Amiasha Ruri ~ Wow, you submitted a lot of reviews in one, and I liked them all--you put lots of detail into yours ^^ Authoresses love that! Anyway...glad you like _Negative Chaos,_ hope you enjoyed this new chappie too! 

****

Ebony Kuroneko ~HAH, now you can't muse-nap NR Yami, 'cause I updated! ^^ Or Kaeru...although I doubt you'd be able to budge him...he's a stubborn one...^^;; Hee hee...

****

Chikara Takashi ~ Invited Saguru for you; unfortunately, due to the fact that I was trying to get this chapter UP, he didn't do much..*grimace* Sorry. 

****

LavenderAlana, Kyra and Kazura ~ A...quiz? Oo;;;;;

****

Aisu Hoshino ~ Ooh, long review from you. Let's see here..*sweatdrop* Hope I crammed enough into this chappie to keep you amused...Xx;;; eh heh...as for Tristan's name, well, I always thought it was "Tristen" but meh, I'll change it. I'm not particular. And as for laughing 'historically' yeah, that was meant to be hysterically...*cough* I typo a lot late at night ^^;; And I didn't catch it until two days after I'd posted, like most things I do...anyway, hope you enjoyed!

****

Ancient Enchantress ~ Yeah, NR Cecilia is alive...heh heh, yeah, not much of a psycho fruitcake, but he has his moments ^^;;

****

LoneWolf16 ~ A long review indeed ^~ Let's see here...some of your questions were answered in this particular chapter, but the ones that weren't answered I'll give you right now. Firstly, "Is Kaze going to be in the next Challenge?" the answer...Well, he wasn't in this one, obviously, but in future chapters perhaps. Kaze hasn't gotten much of a part yet because he plays an amazingly important role later, and I'm trying to give other characters roles while they can get them ^~ Like Mokuba, for example. Now for the others:

1) Technically, Saguru's gun is still loaded, at least in the physical world. He unloaded his gun in a mental Challenge Realm, but seeing as it was all in their heads...it never actually got emptied ^^;; 

3) Mai or Pegsy meeting the Negatives? *muse* Probably not, I'm trying to keep the amount of characters in this to a minimum to begin with, and besides, who on earth knows where Pegsy is anyway?

4) Now this was a good question, and I was wondering when somebody'd catch this. No, the SR isn't on "pause," it's building up. My best example is the earthquake analogy; you know how earthquakes have long spans of time when the tension of the plates is just building up, and then suddenly _bam,_ it all releases in a rush? That's what we're looking forward to here, goody goody ^^

5) The NR is panicking; this'll all be answered later though

6) The Scrolls are sorta...all-existent, if you know what I mean. They don't really have a particular area they belong to; they're just THERE and become available when a Realm may need their help. Confusing buggers, them ^^;; This'll get explained later too

7) *cough* SOMEBODY hasn't' been reading. Go see chappie 5 and 6 ^^;;

Finally, on the contest...two months left, so go ahead if you want to...but don't feel forced into it. ^~ 

****

Windswift ~ Many reviews from you, too. Thanks for giving nice detailed reviews; they seriously make my day. Then I go hyper. Wheeee!

****

Silver Dragon Gold Dragon ~ Meh, the riddles aren't as hard to write as it seems....just work backwards ^~ Now I have updated after a long time; you must as well!

****

Crystal Hikari ~ No, as much as everybody seems to want him to, Negative Realm Yami is NOT coming into this story, beyond the flashbacks or odd sequences that occur (like in Chapter 8 with the fears). He WILL have a big part in the story that follows THIS one, however. 

****

NeoChaosCrystal ~ Yes, reviewer #100, that was you. And thank you for finally returning Kawari; I badly needed him for the completion of this chapter ^^;; As for the convenience of the Scrolls being so near--well, yeah, I considered that at first, but to be frank, the characters don't have enough time to go running all over the world after these Scrolls, and in any case I was just too lazy ^^;; There's a theory that I came up with, in any rate, that backs up this "convenience," but it's coming in the last chapter, so just sit tight until then ^~

****

Evil Neptune ~ What happened to TR Bakura? Well...you got SOME hints now...but trust me, he'll be coming back into play VERY soon. Heh heh heh...and as for Kawari, yeah, I suppose it is difficult to see Ryou wielding a dirk...although I myself only have trouble imagining the two with the same voice. 'Tis difficult.

****

Wingleader Sora Jade ~ Wow, I really hope you like the spiffy longness here @_@;; Oh well...one more chapter closer to seeing Kaze in action ^~ And in the meantime, you got to see thief-mode Kaeru and his stealing partner Kawari in action! And in competition! Wheee! Oh, and as for Tristan...yeah...I gave him a part because he never gets to do anything, poor guy ^^;; I pitied him. Just like I pitied Mokuba here. Anyway...*cough* 

****

Daricio ~ *cough* 'Nother long review, not that I mind ^^ I like'em. I think I answered most of your questions in the IM's, but if I missed anything tell me in a review or email and I'll get back to you on it later. ^^;;

HCG: That's it for the review responses...and on a general note, Kawari would like to know what you all have with kidnapping him, seeing as he was actually kidnapped once and was threatened to be kidnapped three other times in various reviews. 

Kawari: ¬_¬;; I hate being popular.

HCG: Don't blame you. Anyway. I'm exhausted and I have a HUUUUGE biology test tomorrow, so I must finish up and get moving. So...I apologize for the extreme lateness, I apologize for the extreme longness, I apologize for any grammer/spelling/other mistakes I made in this chapter due to editing at midnight, and I apologize for anything else I may have done that annoyed you *sweatdrop* and I'll see you all later! And have a heart; if you make it through the chapter alive then for god's sake REVIEW!!!!


	11. Shadows and Knives

HCG: ^^ Yay, I came back with Chapter 11!

Kawari: ¬_¬;; Wonderful. 

Kaeru: *rolls eyes* I think somebody gave her sugar.

HCG: Indeed! Pepsi and cookies ^___^ And I'm listening to Evenescene's "Whisper," which is such a kickass song and it's one of my faves. ^_~

Kawari: That song is just weird.

HCG: -_-;; You have no taste.

Kawari: Sure. -_-;;

Kaiba: *breaks into conversation before it turns into a competition* Hey, HCG...what happened to Kaze?

HCG: *sweatdrop* He was muse-napped. By WSJ. I got him back in the end, but he's been left rather disgruntled as a result. Apparently "WSJ is crazy."

Kaze: *irritated* Well, she _is!_ She kidnapped me and dressed me up in leather! I was chained to her _desk!_ And I didn't have coffee! *whiiiine*

HCG: ^^;; poor you... 

Kawari: 'Least it wasn't me.

Kaiba: What is _with_ all these people and kidnapping your Negatives?

HCG: I have no idea. They're hot and know how to fight?

Kaiba: -_-;;

HCG: ^^ Don't feel left out Kaiba, I still love you! *glomps him*

Kaiba: *exasperated sigh* That's what I was afraid of...

HCG: ^_^ ANYWAY....Kawari, disclaimer!

Kawari: Right...High Crystal Guardian doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh. She owns me, Kaeru, Kaze (despite WSJ's wishes) and Saguru, as well as all other aspects of the Negative Realm and it's theories and ideas. The Elements belong to Wingleader Sora Jade, but the Scrolls that they're connected to in this story belong to HCG. 

HCG: Nice....Righto, Notes!

****

Kawari ~ NR Ryou

****

Kaeru ~ NR Bakura

****

Kaze ~ NR Kaiba

****

Saguru ~ NR Joey

__

italicized words are thoughts or memories/dreams

Any notes? Don't think so....*makes faces at the readers, then runs off laughing before they can attack her*

****

Negative Chaos 

Chapter 11: Shadows and Knives

"What problem?" eleven voices asked Kaeru instantly, focusing intently on him with impatient eyes. 

Kaeru sighed, shaking his head slightly and looking up from the small scrap of parchment to the rest of the group. "It's this riddle...I don't think we're talking about finding _just one _Scroll this time."

There was silence at this statement for a moment, a surprised, shocked silence, before Tea finally asked tentatively, "What do you mean?"

"Just listen to it," the Negative tomb robber said in reply, taking a quick breath before reading the next Verse out loud. 

"Fifth is next, your Fate to find

Death after, if one keeps their mind

Tied together, they act as one

Far from burning gaze of sun

Yet Darkness lays between the pair

Now separate, trapped in darkened lair.

Shadows sweep and roll and howl

Hiding creatures that snap and growl

One lays on altar of blazing Light,

While second rests in darkest Night."

As Kaeru finished reading, he looked up once again from the parchment slip and stared around at the others. "See? There's no _way _we're talking about just one this time."

"That's true," Kaze murmured, nodding slightly. "There were _two _of the remaining three Elements mentioned here--Fate and Death." He frowned. "But why would they both be mentioned in one verse?"

"Maybe...they're in the same place?" Tristan suggested, looking thoughtful. "Or maybe they're close to each other. Why make two verses when it's only one spot?"

Kawari frowned. "Not close together. The verse mentions specifically that the two Scrolls have been separated--supposedly by darkness, but we can figure out what _that _means in a minute."

"Okay, hold on a minute," Mokuba muttered, thinking. "Let's just take this one line at a time and _not _jump around, or we'll never get anywhere." He took a momentary breath, then continued. "The first two lines tell us the Scrolls are Fate and Death, we've agreed on that, right?" The others nodded, and he went right on. "Okay. Third and fourth lines. 'Tied together, they act as one, far from burning gaze of sun'. Any ideas?"

"The third line does indeed suggest that the Scrolls are in a similar place, perhaps the _same _place," Yami pointed out, speaking up for the first time since the Scroll's verse had been read. "It does not seem to make sense, true, and the lines do appear to counteract each other, but what Tristen said holds truth." He frowned. "And the fourth line suggests the Scrolls are held someplace dark...someplace that has not seen the sun in many years."

"What's a dark place that doesn't see the sun much?" Ryou asked himself quietly, but the others heard it and began volunteering information.

"A cave!"

"A hole in the ground." 

"Deep underwater!"

"A forest at night?"

"They all _do _have the opportunity to get sun, though," Kaiba argued, shaking his head. "The verse implies that wherever this is has _never _seen the light of day, and is too far away from it to be touched by light anyway. You can't get a situation like that unless you venture out of Earth's orbit, or--"

"Or," Kaeru cut in, very calmly, "unless you go to the Shadow Realm."

The comment cut through the loud chatter like a knife through butter, and within seconds everyone was staring at Kaeru. 

"What...what did you say?" Joey asked, as if he had not heard properly and was double-checking, but everyone knew he had heard the comment quite clearly.

"I said the Shadow Realm seems a suitable candidate for the riddle. Match it with the rest of the lines and you'll see."

"You're right!" Yugi exclaimed suddenly, violet eyes widening even further. "Most of the other clues fit the Shadow Realm perfectly. Look--'shadows sweep and roll and howl, hiding creatures that snap and growl.' The Shadow Realm has _real live duel monsters _in it, the creatures. And of _course _it has sweeping shadows, what else would you find there?" He was getting more excited now that the location seemed to have been found. "It's big enough to separate two Scrolls too, and yet they're in the same place! It's all making sense now..."

"But...." Tristan frowned slightly, shrugging. "I don't know, maybe I just don't know as much about the Shadow Realm as you guys do, but what about the last two lines? 'One lays on altar of blazing Light, while second rests in darkest Night.' Does the Shadow Realm even _have _altars?"

"Well..." Yami frowned slightly, exchanging glances with Kaeru, whose expression now appeared rather flat. "In a manner of speaking, yes..."

"What do you mean?" Saguru asked, speaking up for the first time and raising an eyebrow at the sound of the ancient pharaoh's voice. "In a manner of speaking? It's gotta be a yes or no answer, doesn't it?"

"The answer _is _yes," Kaeru broke in. "The Scrolls would _have _to be at the temples of Light and Darkness in the Shadow Realm, there's no other explanation for it. They're on opposite ends of the Shadow Realm, which explains the 'separation' part of the verse. But the temples are...not quite normal...if you know what I mean." He frowned slightly.

Yugi shrugged. "Normal or not, we're just going to have to go there to get these Scrolls."

Yami shook his head. "It's not that easy, aibou. You cannot just open a portal to the Shadow Realm and enter at the foot of the temples. There is a wide radius around the temple where no portals can be opened. To get to the temples, one must enter the Shadow Realm at the barrier where the radius meets its end and travel across the distance to the temples themselves." He sighed. "The distances are quite far and full of danger; they were originally set up to protect the temples from weak, undeserving hearts. No one who is not meant to reach the temple could cross the range and still be alive afterwards."

There was silence that seemed to stretch on for an age as everyone processed this new, rather foreboding bit of information. To cross the distance could mean death, or other punishments, but to _not _pass the danger would mean giving up the Scrolls of Fate and Death, something they could not afford. 

The silence was finally broken by Kaze, who spoke up rather suddenly. "We have nothing to worry about."

"What?!" Joey yelped, staring at Kaze as if he was crazy. "Are you _nuts?!_ Crossing something like that in the Shadow Realm? It's _meant _for taking down people like us!"

"None of us have weak, undeserving hearts," Kaze countered, speaking quite calmly. "We all have a good reason to make the journey for the Scrolls. No one could accuse us of having unjust causes, and there is no reason for us to fail on the journey."

Joey blinked at this, considered, and finally nodded, going quiet. The others' spirits were considerably lifted by what Kaze had pointed out, and most were beginning to find their adventurous grins coming back, as though they could not wait for the next mission.

Kaze hadn't stopped talking, however. "I think," he murmured slowly, "that it would be best if we split into two groups for this. We won't waste so much time trying to get both Scrolls then, and every minute counts in this. Each group can go to its assigned temple, win the Scroll that is there, and bring it back with the next clue."

"That's a good idea," Tea said cheerfully. "We can get twice as much done in half the time."

"But there _are _a few problems with it," Kaiba muttered, ever ready to check the plans for their mistakes. "Firstly, after these two Scrolls there's only one left--Time. That means only _one _Scroll is going to have the next clue." He shrugged. "And we don't know which one that is."

Kawari shrugged. "So we'll just get both of them. We have to anyway, don't we? We shouldn't even _bother _with the Scroll of Time until we've got Fate and Death collected and into Kaze's pockets." He smirked a little.

Kaiba frowned at the white haired teen, then shrugged and went on. "Secondly," he continued, tapping his fingers on one of the tables in the library in his mansion, "what about the authorities?"

"What _about _them?" Kaeru asked rather dryly.

"You just committed a theft, and no matter how well you pulled it off, I've learned precautions should always be taken. You can't just split all twelve of us up and send us off running through another stupid magical dimension! We need a few to stay back as watchmen, to look out for authorities and make sure that if they get suspicious, there's somebody to take care of it."

Saguru raised an eyebrow again and nudged Kaze. "He's got a point," he said, sounding rather calm. "They'll take a little thing like a theft here a _lot _more seriously than back in our Realm. Kaeru's good, but it wouldn't hurt to be careful."

Kaze nodded. "Well then. I suppose you're willing to stay behind?" he asked, eyeing his opposite. "I'm assuming you're not much of a believer in the Shadow Realm anyway, if you really are my opposite."

Kaiba 'hmphed' and rolled his eyes. "Please. Even this Scroll hunt is hard to get used to. The Shadow Realm? Hah! I'm not going to start listening to you all clamoring about it until I'm force to." He smirked. "I'll stay behind like you said."

Kaze shrugged. "Very well. Now for the rest of the groups." He thought for a minute, then said, "I think we should have one yami spirit in each group to manage the Shadow Realm magics and such. So Yami is in the first group, and Kaeru belongs to the second. I'm going to assume again that their hosts are going to go with them, so Yugi and Kawari have their groups as well." He shrugged. "Other than that, I think it's really up to the rest of you as to what group you go with."

"I'm going with Yug'," Joey stated almost instantly. "He's my best friend and I'm not letting him go to that creepy place without me there too." He stood up, strode confidently over next to Yugi and Yami, and sat back down again on one of the chairs there.

Kaeru looked lazily over the remaining people, saying calmly, "I think Ryou should come with us. It would probably be for the best, in any case."

Ryou nodded, smiling the smallest bit, and murmured as he walked over to his opposite and the Negative yami, "Just in time, too."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kawari asked, looking curious.

Ryou frowned slightly and pointed at his Millennium Ring, which rested gently on his chest. "He woke up a little while ago," he muttered. "He's not happy, believe me. Swearing in his soul room something crazy." He grimaced.

Kaeru rolled his eyes. "I can hear him now," he said, voice again rather dry. "He's making no effort to keep the thought link closed." He looked rather annoyed, but shook it off. "Oh well. More the reason for you to come with us." Ryou nodded gratefully.

Tristan smirked a little before walking towards Kaeru's group as well. "The True Realm still needs an ass kicking representative over here," he said by way of explanation, giving Kawari a side glance. The Negative hikari snickered a little but said nothing. 

Kaze glanced around at the groups so far; only he, Saguru, Mokuba, and Tea were left. Glancing off at Yami's group, he made his decision. "You still need a Negative Realmer in your group, to assure that balances are kept within individual teams." He stood calmly from where he had been sitting in one of the library's large chairs, walked over to his selected team (noticeably limping, the others noticed with masked grimaces) and stood calmly, watching the remaining three people. 

Mokuba watched his opposite brother limp across the room with noticeable worry, biting his lip slightly. He glanced at his _true _brother, frowned, and looked back to Kaze, as though he was trying to make a decision; finally, seeming to have chosen, he turned to Kaiba. 

"What is it, Mokuba?" the elder Kaiba brother asked, frowning a little at his sibling's expression. 

"Well...it's just...you're gonna be safe here, in the real world...but Kaze's going into _that place,_" the boy murmured, not daring to say the name. "And...well..._he's _my brother too. I...I'm worried about him."

"Ah." Kaiba showed no outward expression, but he understood where Mokuba was coming from quite well. 

"Well..." Mokuba frowned again slightly, as if working up the nerve to ask something, and then spoke softly. "Do you think...it would be okay if I went with him?"

"Why?" Seto asked, a little shocked. He knew it was a dumb question; after all, he _did _know why--his shock came from the fact that his brother would want to go into that dangerous, hellish place. He was sure Mokuba had had enough of it to last a lifetime, and the boy hadn't even been in there as much as some of the others standing in the room. Besides, he wanted to keep his younger sibling safe, and didn't want him going into that place for anything.

"Because...he's my brother. I always stand by _you,_ whenever you need my help...but...but _you _don't need it, and Kaze...Kaze does..." he bit his lip a little and stared up at his brother with wide, pleading eyes. 

Kaze was torn into by these words. He looked shocked, stood stock still, and those in his group standing nearby could see that a fine trembling had taken hold of him. But it subsided almost immediately as the trained Blue Eyes snatched hold of his emotions once more, leaving behind only the shocked, wide eyes. 

Kaiba was a bit more skeptical at these words, and looked almost on the verge of saying 'no,' but the tidal wave of thoughts crashing through the thought link he shared with Kaze altered his decision. He felt the smallest touches of pity for his opposite--after all, Kaze's Mokuba _had _been tortured to death in front of him--and hesitated only a moment before answering, "Fine. I'll let you go on the mission..._but,_" he added, with a suddenly added ordering tone, "stay close to Kaze at all times. I'm trusting you with him." His ice blue eyes rose to meet Kaze's exactly identical ones. 

The Opposition leader nodded. To anybody else, his face still would have seemed cold and emotionless--excluding the slightly shocked look he still bore--but those experienced with a Kaiba's emotions (such as Mokuba, or Kaiba himself) could tell that Kaze looked almost _grateful._

Tea glanced back and forth between the two groups before shrugging and trotting over to Kaeru's team. "This makes it even," she said, glancing at the two yami spirits. "I don't want to give Yami more of a load in the Shadow Realm than he has to have. Now the groups are even." Kaeru nodded, still standing confidently with his arms crossed.

Saguru frowned slightly at this comment, glancing back and forth between the two groups. "Y'know," he muttered, "she's right, traveling in that Realm is tricky business to begin with and we don't want to overload our only two resident yami spirits--on our side anyway--with too many souls to protect." He grimaced. "That doesn't turn out too well." 

Kaze shrugged. "The groups _are_ even, you should stay behind with Kaiba. It would probably be safer to have two people on the lookout anyway, and I want a Negative Realmer to stay behind in case one of these trips proves unsuccessful. We _do _need to make sure we can get the remaining Scroll, after all." 

Kaiba sent his opposite a withering glare at being stuck with a version of Joey, but Kaze ignored him as he received his answer from Saguru. "Righto, man. You can count on me."

"Are we all set then?" Yami asked slowly, glancing around his group quickly and burning the figures into his memory. As far as he was concerned, while they were in the Shadow Realm every single one of them was his responsibility. He wasn't quite sure what to make of Kaze--he knew the Negative teen was familiar with the Realm of Darkness, but wasn't sure of how accustomed to it he was--and so, on the precautionary side, decided to look out for him as well. 

_Better safe than sorry, as the old saying goes, _he thought to himself, even as he and the rest of his group turned and headed for the mansion's main hall and double doors, leaving a glowering Kaiba and a cheerful Saguru behind.

Once outside, Kaeru approached Yami quickly, looking quite calm despite the fact that they were all going to the Shadow Realm for a hike. "Well then. Which temple do you want to take? We can travel as far as needed in the mortal True Realm, then open a gate on the temple ground's border and traverse across it's boundaries from there." He shrugged. "Simple, but effective."

Yami thought momentarily, then answered, "I and my group will head for the Temple of Light. I am more familiar with it's location than that of the one of Darkness."

Kaeru nodded. "Right. Good luck getting your Scroll. Meet back here when we're finished." He smirked a little, turned, and headed off towards Western Domino, the members of his own group trailing after him with Kawari travelling by his side without pause.

The ancient Pharaoh sighed, then turned to his own group, looking them over. Yugi was staring over at him with determination that glimmered in his bright, large eyes, Joey had his "tough guy" look already plastered on his face, Kaze was standing impassively, almost lazily, and Mokuba was close by his side, looking a bit nervous at the prospect of going back to the Shadow Realm but comforted by "his" brother's presence. 

"Well then," Yami began, shrugging slightly, "should we start?" The others nodded, and he turned, cutting a path across the mansion's lawn to head towards Eastern Domino, where they would meet with the Temple's guard borderline. 

Traversing across the city was rather uneventful; it was still dark out, early in the morning by now, and so very few people were out. The night was cool, as it _was _November, and the seasons were on the verge of changing, but none of them seemed to mind; all of them had jackets (or in Kaze's case a heavy trench coat) and nobody was concerned with the cold. 

Instead, they spent their time looking around in awed interest at the city. Something about it being dark made the whole place seem..._different_...to the point of being eerie, and it was as if they were travelling a city they had never set foot in. Most of them found the experience touching at their nerves, but Yami and Kaze seemed indifferent to the strange silence and unliveliness of the city. Kaze, in fact, looked more interested, almost amazed, than anything else, and could often be seen by the others in his group gazing at some building or place and muttering under his breath, "it still exists here..." The others attempted to ignore these quiet comments--they brought about strange feelings of disturbance and pity for the Negative Realm and its inhabitants--and continued on their trek without pause. 

At last, after nearly an hour of travelling in an Eastern direction, Yami came to a halt and motioned for the others to stop as well. They did so, gathering around him while surveying their surroundings with mild interest. 

They were standing in the middle of a deserted basketball court on the outskirts of the city. Several scruffy, unkempt bushes were sitting at odd intervals nearby, trying to make the area more decorative with little success. It was still dark out, but here, without the cluster of buildings around them, they could clearly see the stars and wide, glowing moon sitting in the sky above them, shimmering down like many guardians above them. 

"We are at the border," Yami announced carefully, glancing around absentmindedly at where he had brought them. "We must cross into the Shadow Realm here; take any further steps, and our way into the Realm will be blocked by the magic of the Temple."

"We can't go there in the open, though," Joey pointed out, gesturing with wide arms to the basketball court they were standing in the middle of. "I mean, maybe nobody's out, but it's still a stupid idea to go to the Shadow Realm out where anybody can see us."

"A good point," Kaze said quietly. "We'll do it over here." Hands in his trench coat pockets, he strode casually over to a clump of the unkempt bushes, the others following him. He was right; the bushes would provide good cover, if they all crouched down (though Mokuba and Yugi had no need to do so).

"Very well," Yami murmured slowly, glancing around one last time at the group he was traveling with, making sure everybody was there. When he was assured that all were safe and sound, he said softly, "Aibou...I believe I should take possession of your body during the duration of our stay in the Shadow Realm. There will be much going on once we enter, and I want to be sure you are safe."

Yugi nodded. "Sure, go ahead, Yami."

The ancient spirit's physical body seemed to fade away into thin air, but it was not so for long; almost immediately there was a small flash of light from the Millennium Puzzle around Yugi's neck, and the next second the pharaoh was in control, his slightly narrowed eyes glancing around at his companions.

"Right," he murmured. "The time has come. Let us cross into the Shadow Realm."

There was absolute silence as Yami went to work. Dipping into the Puzzle's abilities, he slowly selected his magic, carefully opening a portal into the Shadow Realm. The deep, nightmare-black disk split open in the air silently next to them, large enough for the tallest of them (which happened to be Kaze) to step through without even bending his head. Closing his eyes for better concentration, Yami cupped his hands around the Puzzle and held the position, murmuring softly, "Go through. I must go last so as to hold the portal open."

Kaze nodded, looking quite calm as he looked over the Shadow Realm's portal. Glancing at Mokuba and Joey, the only remaining people, he said easily, "Come on," before turning and stepping through the portal with the air of walking down the street. He vanished into the shadows within seconds, but could vaguely be seen through the portal if one squinted. 

"Er....right," Joey muttered, still looking surprised--he'd been to the Shadow Realm before, true, but he was still not _completely _used to it yet. Mokuba, beside him, looked flat-out shocked and was staring at the portal as though it would bite him. He moved forward only when Joey gave him a gentle nudge, and leapt through the portal quickly, slightly nervous. The taller blonde entered behind him, and Yami followed up at the rear, pausing momentarily to wave his hand and seal the portal closed. 

Kaze glanced back at them coolly over his shoulder, saying calmly, "The coast is clear. Nothing nearby."

Mokuba frowned a little. "What could be nearby in _here?_" 

In reply, his "older brother" shrugged. "There are monsters here, of course, but we've only got to worry about the more powerful ones. No, I'm more interested in whatever troubles the Shadow Realm wishes to create for us; if it really is overflowing, the likelihood of a seemingly random, surprise attack is high."

"Oh..." the smaller boy shivered slightly, taking a few automatic steps closer to his Negative brother until he was right by his side. "Right."

Kaze glanced down at him gently. "You don't have to worry about anything here, I promise," he said softly. 

"So, now that we're all here, let's get goin'!" Joey exclaimed, partly nervous but unable to hide his excitement from his voice. He glanced back at Yami, whom they'd all been waiting for patiently--the spirit was busy creating shields for the mortals so that they risked no danger from the soul-sucking shadows--but he appeared to be finished now, from the way he was stepping forward. 

"Very well, Joey," the Pharaoh murmured softly, slightly tired from sustaining so many spells--though he noticed, with interest, that Kaze already had his own shielding. He kept his observations to himself, adding, "we travel in this direction," and taking off, the others falling into step behind him. 

The trip was quiet. Indeed, that seemed an understatement; the travel was unnaturally silent, the absence of sound pressing on them even more so than it had while they had crossed the streets of Domino. The Shadows swirled, dipped, and writhed around them, feeling almost foreboding, and everywhere there was no light, only areas where it was less dark. It was like something out of some strange dream, borderline on becoming a nightmare. 

Once or twice, pushed on by his nervousness of such a foreboding place, Joey tried to strike up a conversation. His words usually fell dead in the air, however, swallowed up by the shadows themselves, and the stony silence of Yami and Kaze did not help matters much. Realizing his attempts to lighten the mood were not working, the blonde teen then fell silent as well, simply staying with the rest of the group and trying not to fall behind. 

Mokuba, too, was visibly nervous. He disliked this place the first time he came to it, and he hated it now as well. Heart pounding slightly, he stayed as close as he could to Kaze, finding comfort in his Negative brother's own silent confidence that so closely resembled his True self's. 

What with the dark, uneasy mood and the nerves of the travelers of the Shadow Realm, all of them would have been quite pleased to have said the trip was uneventful; unfortunately it was not so by any means. For, nearly forty-five minutes later as they cut through the silence and the stillness, something attacked.

It began when the eerie silence was broken by a furious snarl, loud, long, and dangerous sounding. Kaze whirled, managing to shout, "Behind us!" before the beast came pounding through the shadows, another snarl breaking through its fanged jaws. 

Joey, having been alerted by the yell of the Opposition leader, whirled quickly, letting a powerful, yet at the same time somewhat random punch crack through the air. Too late he realized his instinctive attack would not work, and tried to withdraw, but without success; the creature cannoned into him, sending the blonde teen flying, then rolling to a stop on his side, groaning slightly.

But it seemed that the teen's attack _had _done something, for instead of landing on its intended prey, the creature hissed in surprise, retracting its long, tearing claws, and crashed through Kaze and Mokuba, scattering the two apart while it landed ungracefully on four paws and rolled. Yowling furiously, it pulled itself to its feet, tail snapping as hit snarled at them again.

It was now completely visible, no longer hidden in the darkness of the shadows, and it was quite big. A huge white tiger stood before them, black stripes slashing over its powerful, muscular frame and accenting its glittering teeth and claws. One eye glowered at them in a furious amber gaze, but the other was closed, a nasty scar slashing over its eye and proving it had been wounded at one point. 

"An All-Seeing White Tiger," Yami said, blinking in surprise. The large cat's head swiveled to look at him momentarily, and then it snarled, looking over the remaining members of the group as though searching for something, tail twitching madly. Without warning, it crouched, seeming to have found what it was looking for--its prey.

With an almighty roar, the White Tiger launched itself forward quite suddenly, charging headlong towards the creature that it had decided would be its next meal--Mokuba, the smallest in the group. The boy found himself wide eyed with terror at the creature charging towards him, trying to crabwalk backwards away from the tiger from his position on the ground where it had knocked him. Frantically he wished that it hadn't knocked Kaze away from him; he was terrified, desperately needing his brother more than anything in the world...

Yami was shocked, lifting his hands hastily to perform the magic that would protect Mokuba from the tiger, but...he was so tired. He'd used too much magic in one time period, along with the continually draining effects of shielding himself and two mortals, and it was wearing him down. He tried to pull his magic together for one blast...but before he even had a chance, he heard a shout, followed by an angry snarl from the beast, and looked up. 

He was surprised at what he saw. A dagger had appeared in the White Tiger's side, looking as though it had grown there suddenly and speedily. The Tiger snarled in pain, veering off its original course and sliding to a halt, glaring with its one good eye at its attacker. 

An attacker that was Kaze.

The Blue Eyes was standing in front of his True Realm brother protectively, arms crossed over his chest as he glared with icy, chilling eyes at the White Tiger. His eyes were narrowed in anger, but when he spoke, his voice was ultimately calm due to nearly two years as a war leader.

"Those who attack my brother...in _any _Realm...do not live."

Joey struggled up to Yami quickly, rubbing a bruise that was fast appearing due to the Tiger plowing into him. "Yami...man...why's he talkin' to it?"  
"They are intelligent creatures, Joey," Yami murmured softly, staring at the White Tiger and its human opponent and frowning slightly. "But...I don't know why he's stating such a thing...it's almost like a _challenge,_ but he couldn't survive against a monster attack..."

But his words were cut short as the White Tiger snarled loudly again, crouched, and shot forward, tail whipping in the wind it was creating. 

Mokuba gave a small yelp of surprise and fright, staring at the fast-charging Tiger, but Kaze said in an assuring voice, "Don't worry. I told you you had nothing to worry about and I don't break my promises." Looking over his shoulder at his True brother, he allowed the ghost of a grin to pass his face before turning, narrowing his eyes into a battle gaze, and charging the beast headlong. 

Those watching were sure he was going to die then and there, but miraculously he lived. As the White Tiger roared forward, fanged jaws open, Kaze flicked his hands, allowing two silver blades to slip into them instantly. Closing in on each other by the second, it was like some game of 'chicken;' but then, at the last second, the Opposition leader slipped aside faster than lighting, one of his hands lashing outward too quickly to see, and then slipped by the creature to slide to a halt, whirling to face it.

At first, it looked as though nothing had happened other than Kaze's sudden dodge at the last second, but the others realized only moments later as the White Tiger snarled in pain that he had wounded it, plunged a dagger deep into its shoulder and left it there. 

The White Tiger was furious, now. Abandoning its hunt, it turned on Kaze, hell-bent on slaughtering the human that _dared _defy it. Charging forward with a loud roaring scream, he ran to meet Kaze; and the Blue Eyes did not move, but simply waited, two silvery knives held in his hands and a deathly icy glare in his eyes. And then the two clashed, and all was confusion. 

Joey was too stunned to move, watching the battle before him taking place; Mokuba was wide-eyed with shock, and obviously worried; Yami was narrow eyed but feeling useless, knowing he could not attack the monster while it fought lest he hit his companion. Unable to do anything, the three simply watched, trying to make out what was going on in the confusing, fast paced movement of the two combatants.

It was a strange battle. The White Tiger lashed out, swiping with claws and snapping with jaws, hoping to catch hold of the Opposition leader to drag him down and maul him to death, but Kaze was too quick for him, anticipating his movements and dodging with skill. As the Tiger tried to slice him in two again and again, the Blue Eyes leapt, sidestepped, and dodged its attacks, using its own force and brute power against it and throwing it off-balance with its own momentum. And as he dodged, Kaze attacked, ramming knives into the creature with perfect accuracy. He was slipping past the creature's front paw, embedding a blade in its other limb; dodging a snap of the jaws and plunging another weapon into its side; leaping over a lash from its claws to land on its back and stab a third deep between its shoulder blades. The creature screamed each time a blade found a target, driving it further into madness, desperately trying to kill its smaller attacker, only to make it more blinded to Kaze's attacks and weaken its defense. 

The battle was short, efficient, and brutal, decided within seven minutes. The White Tiger finally gave one last screaming roar of pain, thrashing and throwing Kaze off its back, where the Blue Eyes had just finished planting another of his blades. The Opposition leader flew clear, landed on the ground, rolled, and came to a stop in a crouching position, the silver and blue flames of his trench coat pooled around him for an overall mysterious effect, two blades still in his hands. The White Tiger, meanwhile, was much worse for the wear, looking like a living pincushion, knife handles protruding from limbs, side, chest, neck and head. It snarled its pain to the darkness above them in the Shadow Realm, and then stumbled, beginning to fall to the ground on its side; it hadn't even reached the ground before it disappeared, fading away into tiny bits and pieces as its substance returned to the making of the Shadow Realm, knives in it clattering to the ground.

"Hmph," Kaze muttered, coming to a slow, graceful stand and half glaring at where the All-Seeing White Tiger had been. The two knives in his hands disappeared into his trench coat within seconds, and he slowly moved forward to collect his remaining knives that had scattered over the ground when the White Tiger disappeared. His limp was noticeably worse now.

The others simply stared for a minute, surprise evident on all their faces, and then...

"Holy _crap!_" Joey yelped, startled, as he ran after Mokuba, who had run to join his "brother" once the immediate shock left him. "How the...what the....'ow the _hell _did you _do _that?!"

Kaze glanced over at Joey, slipping his final two knives into the sheathes up his sleeves. "War training." He raised an eyebrow. "I _am _the leader of the Opposition, remember?"

"But...well, yeah, 'course I remembered, but I didn't think you could beat a friggin' _duel monster,_" Joey said, staring at Kaze with slightly more respect (even if his language didn't show it).

The Negative Kaiba chuckled slightly. "There _is _a reason they gave me the nickname 'Blue Eyes' back home, you know," he said, a characteristic Kaiba smirk playing over his face. Joey simply blinked at this, then shrugged, still looking a little surprised.

"Are you hurt?" Mokuba asked anxiously, as Yami joined them gazing at Kaze with slight curiosity, but also newfound respect. 

Kaze shook his head. "I'm fine. It didn't get me with its claws, so there's no cuts, I just got knocked around a bit from his size." He shrugged. "A few bruises at best."

Yami raised an eyebrow. "What about that limp of yours?"

The Opposition leader looked away slightly, though the rest noticed that almost unconsciously his weight changed from resting on his once-injured leg to his regular one. "It's...fine. A lot of action makes it act up, but it'll be fine in a little while."

"D'you want us to wait a few minutes for you?" Mokuba asked, frowning slightly. "Give you a chance to rest?"

"No," Kaze said, voice slightly curt. "We need that Scroll. My personal comfort can wait." Turning, he headed off in their original direction, giving them no choice to follow, but their gazes were drawn for some time to the uncomfortable looking stronger limp the Blue Eyes kept with him, until it finally left to be replaced with his usual one.

Roughly another hour and a half passed in silence, with very little conversation between the group members. Most were on edge after the White Tiger attack and were constantly looking around, searching and listening for any possible future monster meetings, but they never came, leaving the group with slightly worn nerves, but satisfied over all. 

It was after this long length of time that they had traveled when they saw it in the distance. 

Far ahead of them, looking miniscule against the dark colored horizon--if indeed there even _was _a horizon--was the white shape of a building. Its color, already pure and unblemished, seemed blindingly bright against the black of the Shadow Realm, and stood out quite clearly in front of them. 

"The Temple of Light," Yami murmured softly, nodding at the building. "That is our destination."

They headed unquestioningly towards the Temple, each one silent and ready for the Challenge they would have to face soon enough. All showed their determination openly; Yami walked with the straight posture of a ruler that suggested he already knew he was bound to win, Joey was cracking his knuckles in readiness, Mokuba was trotting faster and had even moved a little bit away from his Negative brother, and Kaze's icy blue eyes were narrowed as he walked silently. 

As they neared the Temple, its details became clearer, becoming unmistakably a beautiful sight to behold. It was built of a pure white marble that seemed to radiate light, and there was no doubt as to where its name had come from. It was large, with wide pillars the size of tree trunks supporting the structure and great, wide steps leading up to it's one large entrance. 

"I guess this is it then, guys," Joey remarked, grinning slightly. 

Yami nodded. "Indeed. Let us enter, but tread cautiously--we do not know what could be waiting for us in there."

The others nodded, moving slowly towards the steps. Almost instinctively, Mokuba and Joey gave way for Yami and Kaze, the two with leaderlike qualities, to move ahead, going first up the stairs towards the Temple's entrance. 

The two had just reached the first step when a voice called out to them. But it was not the voice of a Scroll Guardian; this seemed a small voice, compared to such monstrous ones, and quite human.

"Ah, visitors that approach the Temple. Do you come in good spirits, or do you contain evil in your heart and soul?"

Blinking, the four group members glanced up, staring in surprise at a person standing at the top of the stairs, in front of the Temple's entrance. It was a man, looking young, no more than twenty-five. He had deep, rich black hair, very long and held back in a simple pony-tail, though a few stray bangs chanced to fall into his face, creating what looked almost like a wall between his eyes and those he stared at. A deep tan set off amber-colored eyes nicely, and he wore a set of white robes, immaculately clean and so bright they nearly blended in with the Temple walls. 

Yami frowned slightly, but then answered, "We do not bring evil. We are friends; sent here to collect the Realm Scroll that resides in this Temple."

The man cocked his head quizzically, then nodded. "Very well. You speak true; you harbor no evil. Come, follow me." He turned, heading back into the Temple of Light, looking almost as if he was gliding.

"What do we do?" Joey asked, looking slightly confused.

Kaze shrugged. "Follow him, of course." Without hesitation he began climbing the large, white marble steps, Mokuba hastening to catch up, Yami and Joey following after a second's hesitation.

They followed their guide into a wide room, devoid of any objects or furnishings beyond a pedestal in the center, on which sat a Scroll, looking deceptively innocent. The man glided over to the pedestal, coming to a stop next to it, and turned to face the four travelers that had come to his temple.

"My name is Kanshinin. This is what you wish for, no?" he asked, indicating the Scroll with a wave of his hand.

Kaze nodded. "That is what we seek." He moved forward a pace to reach for the Scroll so as to activate the Challenge, but Kanshinin slid in front of him, holding out his hand. 

"I am afraid you cannot take it," he said, quite calmly. 

Kaze frowned. "I couldn't take it yet," he murmured. "I was trying to bring about the Challenge to see if we were worthy of this Scroll."

"You are familiar with the terms?" Kanshinin asked, looking slightly impressed. 

"Yes."

"Very well. Then you will understand why I cannot allow you to take the Scroll yet."

The Blue Eyes raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"  
Kanshinin chuckled slightly. "Because _I _am the appointed Guardian of the Scroll of Death, and you must win a Challenge against me, first."

Joey's jaw dropped, Mokuba gave a gasp of surprise, and Kaze's frown deepened. Yami, however, spoke up. "How is this possible?" he asked, a slightly suspicious tone in his voice. "All the previous Guardians we have faced did not take a physical form."

Kanshinin shrugged. "Most likely," he answered, his formal tone disappearing somewhat. "I am not a _true _Guardian. I was appointed by those that guard the Scrolls to protect this one." 

"Why would that be?" Yami asked slowly, still rather distrustful of the white-robed man.

The Guardian shrugged. "I do not know, of course," he answered. "It isn't wise to meddle in their affairs. I believe they dislike the Shadow Realm, but it was an intelligent place to hide a Scroll, so they have assigned others to the task of protecting their items." He smirked. "But does that matter? You have no dealings with _them_ at the moment, only _me._"

"Okay then," Joey snapped, not liking this new personality that had come about, now that the formal guardian was gone. "What the hell do we have to do to _get _the Scroll?"

Kanshinin shrugged. "Simple. You must face _me _in a Shadow Game and win." He chuckled. "But I warn you, it will _not _be easy. I have never lost."

Kaze looked at him with a rather dry expression, and asked flatly, "Have you ever _won _one either?"

"Don't test me, mortal," Kanshinin hissed, looking in irritation at the Negative Kaiba. Joey smirked; so this version of Seto _did _know how to push somebody's buttons after all...

Kanshinin turned away from the Opposition leader, then asked quickly, "Well? Who shall the Challenger be?"  
Yami sighed. A Shadow Game...he would have to play, obviously, but he was being worn down by the constant goings-on in the Shadow Realm, and was _not _looking forward to this Challenge, or summoning dozens of monsters for a drawn out fight. Stepping forward, he raised his hands wearily to the Puzzle. "I--"

Kaze, however, suddenly stepped forward, giving the ancient Pharaoh a glance. "Don't waste your time on him, he isn't worth it, and frankly I don't think you should be wasting your magic on him. _I'll _take care of him."

Yami blinked, startled. Was he hearing things? How could _Kaze _possibly fare well in a Shadow Game?

Kanshinin appeared to be thinking along the same lines as well. Bursting into laughter, he said rather loudly, "_You? _A _mortal?_ How can a _mere mortal _expect to win a Shadow Game against _me _when the very _Pharaoh_ himself would have trouble defeating me?" He laughed again.

Kaze crossed his arms over his chest again. "You can beat me, is that so? Very well then. You can beat me however harshly you choose, so long as _I _have first say on how this battle will be conducted."

Kanshinin nodded, still laughing. "Of course! It doesn't matter, come up with as many dueling rules as you damn well please. _No _mortal could hope to summon monsters without fainting dead on the spot! You're already at a disadvantage, mortal, no matter _how _strong you may appear." He smirked.

To the surprise of all, however, Kaze began to laugh--a deep, merciless, grim sound that rang through the Temple in which they stood. The laughter faded away shortly, and it was then that the Blue Eyes spoke, his voice cold.

"You're very amusing. Just how long have you been guarding this Scroll?"

Somewhat taken aback at this sudden question, Kanshinin answered slowly. "I have only been the Guardian for a few centuries, since the last appointed Guardian passed on." He frowned. "Why?"

Kaze shook his head. "I thought so. You're very young for this job--and very foolish."

Kanshinin glared at the Challenger. "How dare you insult me! What gives you cause to say such a thing about me?!"

The Opposition leader's voice was ultimately calm, quite a contrast to the Guardian's. "Because you've neglected one vital fact in the way a Shadow Game works. It does _not _have to be a duel of monsters, though this is the most common. A Shadow Game is a duel of wits, not of strength." A ghost of a smirk passed over Kaze's face. Yami, behind him by about ten paces, raised an eyebrow slightly--how could Kaze have known that?--but nodded as well. That technicality was going to cost Kanshinin greatly.

The Guardian paled slightly, realizing he was trapped, tricked into his predicament by this annoying mortal and his own fool pride. "Well then," he managed to mutter after several minutes, "What do you plan to do?"

Kaze gave another grim laugh, though no smile flickered on his face or reached his eyes. "Simple," he said, voice calm. "This is a game where _you _will test _my _skills."

Kanshinin raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

In reply, the Blue Eyes flicked his hand, one of his throwing daggers sliding into it in the blink of an eye. He raised the blade calmly, holding the sharp edge between two fingers, and then began toying with it almost absent-mindedly, flipping it from one hand to another and twirling it with the most extraordinary ease. 

"As you can see," the Negative answered coolly, "the throwing blades are where my fighting skills are best seen. I can almost always hit the target I desire, and these blades rarely let me down."

"And?" the Guardian asked, looking irritated.

Kaze chuckled. "Impatient, aren't we?" he asked, still calm. "The game is this: _you _will pick three targets, absolutely anything at any distance within this room. I must hit all three designated targets from where I stand right now. If I miss even _one,_ you win the game. But if I get all _three_...the Scroll of Death is mine."

Kanshinin raised an eyebrow. "That is the game?"

"That is the game," Kaze answered, nodding.

The Guardian considered for a moment, then responded slowly, "I'll agree...if I may add an additional price."

"And that would be...?"

"If you lose," Kanshinin said, smirking a little, "I wish to keep the souls of the Pharaoh and his precious little pet--the hikari. Keeping them as servants would be most entertaining. I would love to see a Pharaoh waiting on me hand and foot."

Kaze's eyes narrowed slightly, their icy blue very cold as he glared at his opponent. "_That_ is the price?"

"Yes," Kanshinin said, smirking.

The Blue Eyes frowned...and then, to the surprise of all, asked a question. "If they were used as bartering chips, as you have named for your price...would they be considered a part of the Challenge?"

Kanshinin blinked. "Yes...yes, I suppose they would..."

Kaze nodded. "Very well then. I accept your terms."

Yami's eyes widened, and then, infuriated, he yelled, "What are you _doing, _Kaze?! You would bet my hikari's _soul_ away, not to mention my own?!"

Kaze turned to look over his shoulder. "Relax, Pharaoh," he said, voice calm. "Recall that we need to have _both _a True Realm and Negative Realm candidate in these Challenges, and that requirement has now been fulfilled."

"At the price of--" Yami began, angry, but Kaze cut him off.

"What was it my True self tells me you always demand of him? Ah yes: '_you have to trust me, Kaiba._' Well, I'm going to ask you to do the same thing, Pharaoh," he said, voice soft, icy eyes connecting to Yami's own dark violet. "_You have to trust me on this._"

Yami blinked, startled...and then, very slowly, nodded. "Very well, Kaze," he murmured, voice soft to hide the growl in his throat. "I suppose I have no choice in this matter...but do not fail."

"I won't, rest assured." The ghost of a smile on his face, Kaze turned back to his opponent. "Well?"

"The terms have been made and agreed to, and the prices are ready to be paid," Kanshinin said, smirking. "We are both ready. What is left but to see how this plays out?" He gave a wide grin, looking quite confident, and then said loudly, "Game start!"

"Good," the Negative Kaiba said in reply, still twirling the silvery knife between his fingers. "Choose my first target."

Kanshinin nodded, glancing around the Temple's inner chamber. There was not much in the room by way of furnishings, and this therefore left a certain lack of targets. Shrugging, he smirked a little. "I'll just have to summon a target then, hmm?"

"Whatever you like," Kaze answered, idly watching the flashing silver in his hands.

The Guardian narrowed his eyes at his Challenger's offhanded way of speaking, then concentrated, closing his eyes. He held out his hands in the air as if he was holding something; the atmosphere in those hands seemed to solidify, pulling itself together, and very suddenly there was what looked like a polished staff resting in them. 

Joey's jaw dropped. "How'd he do that?!" he yelped, startled. 

Kanshinin glanced over at him, a superior look on his face. "Pfft, simple magic, mortal. I summoned this from the natural Realm that leads to the Shadow Realm. You call it the True Realm." He chuckled. "But I wouldn't expect you to know that anyway, mortal." Turning, he carried the staff some distance across the room, finally setting it on the ground, where it miraculously stood upright without any aid. 

"Your first target," the Guardian said, smirking at Kaze as he strode back to stand next to the pedestal, "is that staff. See if you can get it, _mortal._"

"I already have," Kaze said quietly. "Next target."

Startled, Kanshinin whipped around, staring in shock at the staff. It was no longer standing up on its own, but had been knocked backwards due to the heavy momentum of something ramming into it at full force--a something that was revealed to be a knife, point embedded in the wood, a moment later. 

"How did you--" Kanshinin sputtered, looking between the knife and Kaze in surprise.

The Opposition leader shrugged. "You weren't paying attention," he said, his voice flat. "If you don't watch you won't see me move."

"I think you cheated!" Kanshinin hissed, glaring at the Challenger.

"You know better than that," Kaze snapped back, looking annoyed. "The Shadow Games do not allow for cheating, and in any case I have witnesses to show that it _was _my work." He pointed at Mokuba, Yami, and Joey behind him. 

"I wouldn't believe them. They're on your side."

"He did hit it!" came an angry voice--Kaze identified it as Yugi with interest, and turned slightly. 

Yami had separated from Yugi, allowing the boy to take back control of his body while they stayed in the Temple. The Hikari seemed mad, and it was obvious he disliked Kanshinin's distrusting, sneaking nature. 

"He did hit that staff on his own, _without _cheating! I watched it from where me and Yami were bonded!" 

Kanshinin glared at Yugi, positively seething, but then whirled and turned back to Kaze. "Fine. You have your first win--but you must still win two more."

"Of course," Kaze answered, nodding slightly, but the iciness in his eyes never once faltered. 

"I think," the Guardian hissed slowly, "that your next target will be a moving one." Holding out one hand as he had before, he concentrated, and once again the air solidified into a new shape. It was round, and bright red, identified after a few moments as an apple.

Kaze raised an eyebrow. "A _moving_ target? It's just a fruit."

"That's what you think," Kanshinin snapped, waving the apple in his hand as he did so. A fly dislodged itself from the apple stem and zoomed off through the Temple's chamber, but the Guardian paid it no notice. "This apple will prove your downfall, you won't be able to hit it once I set it up, and--_get it if you can, mortal!_"

Yugi gave a shout of anger at Kanshinin's sudden tricky move, his call echoed by the others around him. "_Unfair!_" he yelled, watching as the Guardian suddenly threw the apple into the air without warning. Kaze hadn't even had a knife out, it didn't seem fair, and those watching knew for a fact that if the apple hit the ground it would be considered as a 'loss.'

But Kaze didn't even bat an eyelid. With extraordinary swiftness, his hand reared back, blade sliding into it in perfect throwing grip even as he gathered the momentum for the throw. With a quick, practiced snap, he sent the throwing knife flying, silver flitting through the air to slice the apple cleanly in two as it reached the tip of its ark. The two apple halves fell to the ground with a wet _plop _and sat there, dripping juice onto the perfect white marble of the floor. 

"I get the feeling you were attempting to be underhanded," Kaze observed, his voice extremely dry, icy eyes boring into the amber ones of the Guardian. Kanshinin blinked, staring in shock at the apple halves on the floor. 

"You...you can't have..."

"You are forgetting," the Opposition leader said, acid in his voice, "that I am a war-trained resistance leader. I should be expected to be able to react to something like _that _at the very _least._"

Kanshinin's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed in anger and partial humiliation. "You have two wins," he snapped, as though it pained him to announce this. "One more and the Scroll is yours. But you _will not win it,_" he snarled, black bangs sweeping in front of his amber eyes and almost hiding them from view. 

"Think what you will," Kaze answered. "Now...the final target."

"Let me think," the Guardian hissed, giving his opponent a quick look before his eyes fell on the apple halves. He fell to staring at them, contemplating deeply, wondering what he could possibly pick for a target that would stump the Blue Eyes. 

His concentration was cut short as a noise disturbed his thoughts. It was a continuous buzzing, monotonous and annoying, and he found himself becoming infuriated with it. Glaring around, he was startled to discover it coming from a fly; the same fly that had alighted from the apple, and was now returning to the fruit, attracted by the scent of the juice. He swatted at it as it passed; it flew aside easily, avoiding him. 

"Flies," he snarled to himself, low enough so that Kaze could not hear him. "Stupid annoying little pests, one can never...hit...them..." his face lit up suddenly as he found his next target.

"Pardon?" Kaze asked, forcing a polite word to his lips even if his tone did not match it at all. He disliked this Kanshinin _very _much; the Guardian was nothing more than a jerk that liked to pick on those less superior to him. 

Kanshinin smirked, amber eyes glittering with a devilish look. "Your third target," he said, his voice hissing and low, "is that fly." He pointed at the insect that had landed on the fruit, then waved his hand slightly to stir it up and send it zooming off in a completely random direction.

There was an odd blur of movement from Kaze as he moved so fast that those watching could not see what he did; then he was standing, as unmoving as a shadow, arms crossed in front of his chest as he stared down Kanshinin with his cold blue eyes. "I win."

Kanshinin blinked, shocked. "You couldn't have." Whirling, he turned to look at the dagger, still quivering, its tip planted in one of the Temple's walls. "It's impossible..._nobody _could have made that hit, I won't believe you..."

The Opposition leader trained a powerful, almost commanding gaze on his opponent. "If you do not believe, simply check the dagger's flight itself. But whether you believe it or not, it does not matter; I won the Scroll of Death fairly according to our terms, and it is mine by right of the Shadow Realm."

"You can't have..." the Guardian was still muttering. Looking almost desperate, he scrambled over to the wall where the knife had embedded itself, wishing to prove the Blue Eyes wrong... 

...And stood there, staring in shock, unbroken gaze staring straight at the dagger's point. For there, pierced neatly through its center, was the black speck of a fly. 

There was a moment of absolute silence, in which those watching took the time to register the shock of the situation. Kaze had won, just as he had said he would. Not only that, but he'd won by slicing a fly clean out of midair...his blade skills seemed impossible, bringing quite clearly to their minds just how bad the Negative Realm had to be for _that _kind of accuracy to be needed. 

Kanshinin was enveloped in shock as well. He was still staring at the dagger's point as if the fly would somehow disappear, and he could claim _himself _the victor instead...but he knew, deep down, that that wasn't going to happen. Sighing, he turned, looking rather sullen but speaking in an at least _semi_-formal tone.

"Three wins, as per the rules. The Scroll of Death has been rightfully won by you." He looked partly downcast, partly furious, but moved to the pedestal on which the Scroll sat innocently; picking it up, he moved over towards Kaze and held the magical item out respectfully for him to take. 

"Thank you," Kaze said, voice still calm, eyes finally beginning to lose their furious, icy look. He took the Scroll with utmost care, placing it within his inner trench coat pockets among a crowd of knives. 

"And now, I would appreciate it if you would leave," the Guardian continued, voice rather stiff. "I am tired and will not look after visitors anymore." And without so much as a goodbye, Kanshinin turned and glided out of the chamber into rooms farther into the Temple, disappearing from sight. 

"Nice guy," Joey commented dryly, watching the white-robed Guardian retreat. "Never want to see him again."

"I don't blame you," Yugi murmured, blinking his large eyes. "That was completely underhanded!"

Yami nodded slightly. "And yet Kaze beat him despite the tricks that were played in this game," he observed. Though he didn't say it, he quite approved how the Blue Eyes had handled the Shadow Game, and instinctively knew that the Negative Realm was in good hands with the brunette as a leader.

Kaze had reached them now, and on hearing this last comment, shrugged. "I knew he would try something like that," he said, his voice flat. "You can always tell how a person will act in one of these games. That's why I picked something that was based on one of my better skills." 

Mokuba came trotting up, holding in his hands the three knives that his Negative brother had used during the Challenge. "Here you go," he said, looking quite cheerful. "I got them for you!"

Kaze grinned ever so slightly. "Thanks, kid."

The five of them stood for several moments in the Temple's main chamber, before Yugi ventured, "Er, well...should we start heading back? Maybe Kaeru and his group have got their Scroll, too."

"Right," Kaze agreed, nodding. "Let's move out." And, turning, he headed out of the Temple's chamber, down the steps, and out towards the darkness of the Shadow Realm, the others following and turning their backs on the single speck of light in such a place of darkness. 

"By the way," Joey said, striking up a conversation as they left--it seemed a lot easier to break the silence and talk, now that they had achieved their goal--"where on _earth _did you get so good with those knives? You were _awesome!_"

"Yeah!" Mokuba agreed, grinning up at his Negative version of his brother. "I've never seen anybody do it before!"

Kaze shrugged. "Practice. Nothing more than that."

Joey smirked, elbowing Yami, since he was taller than Yugi and easier to reach, and speaking just loudly enough for the Negative to hear. "Will ya look at that? It's a _modest _Kaiba!" He chuckled at the joke that had been made. Kaze just gave him a look and raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"But seriously," Mokuba pressed, interested, "where _did _you learn all that stuff?"

Kaze shrugged. "I wasn't that good at it before the war started," he admitted. "Then, once the Opposition started, I had to learn _some _form of a weapon practice. Sure, I knew how to use guns and other similar weapons, but you can't always rely on them, they can fail on you more than you think." He looked off in the distance as if relieving a memory. "Then Kaeru got into the Opposition, and he was like a Godsend. Knew _tons _of blade styles...you probably figured that out easily enough from watching Kawari." He smirked a little. "At any rate, he showed me how to use throwing blades, and I caught on pretty quickly. They've been my weapon of choice since."

Mokuba grinned. "Cool." 

As their conversation on the blade practice continued, Joey, Yugi, and Yami struck up their own conversation, this one concerning the Realm Scroll they had just received.

"D'you think we should open it up?" Joey asked, looking curious. "See if it's got the final clue in it or not?"

Yami shook his head. "No," he murmured, frowning slightly. "I think we should leave it alone until we get back into the True Realm. It's too dangerous to open up in the Shadow Realm."

"I wonder what kind of spells are on this one," Yugi murmured, thinking. "I mean...they've all had some sort of theme by now...Desire had healing spells, if I recall...War had war-related destruction spells...most of them stuck with the name of their Scroll, now that I think about it..." 

Joey shivered slightly. "Death spells," he muttered, glancing in Kaze's direction, where the Scroll was currently residing. "Now I'm starting to see why the people that made these Scrolls wanted to keep them hidden."

"Indeed," Yami murmured, voice quiet, thinking over their latest discovery while sustaining the shield spells that kept them all alive.

They traveled for some time, crossing ground in the Shadow Realm at a rapid rate, all the while keeping to their quiet conversations. Kaze was just explaining the finer points of blade slinging to an interested Mokuba, and looked as though he was debating whether to give the younger boy a quick lesson ("Heh, bet Kaiba wouldn't be too happy about that," Joey had commented quietly to Yugi) when an ear splitting shriek ripped the air around them and hell descended.

The shriek came from above them, in the direction of the "sky," if it could indeed be called that, and within seconds the sound was connected to a monstrous bird. If the White Tiger had been large, this bird was positively enormous; its wingspan had to have been at least eighteen feet from tip to tip, perhaps even more. Its plumage consisted of mostly reddish-pink and creamy white, with deep, bluish-purple eyes accenting its form. It had a long, almost serpentine neck, which balanced out its equally long, jagged beak; to finish the creature off, large, sharp talons sat on the end of long, spindly legs, looking quite dangerous. All in all, it resembled something like a majestic, long-beaked vulture, and its hideous shriek, along with its form diving straight at them, was enough to cause shivers of terror rippling through the group. It was a Queen Bird, another duel monster that most of them were familiar with, yet while it seemed almost useless in a card duel it looked anything _but _useless here. 

The Queen Bird dove straight towards Yami, who had taken possession of his aibou once again at the first sign of danger. He tried to charge up his magic to protect himself, but the creature could sense it all too easily, explaining why it had gone for the ancient Pharaoh first--it wanted to get rid of the powerful magic before it was able to be defeated. With a loud, shrieking caw, it lashed out with its heavy, large wings, catching Yami a sound blow to the head--the Pharaoh was out within seconds, collapsing to the ground. 

"Hey!" Joey yelled, suddenly angry, and worried for his friend. "You get moving! Leave my friend alone!" He dived forward towards the bird, driven by the sudden urge to help his friend, no matter how stupid his attempt was. He drew back his fist, but before he even got close to the creature's head, it snapped out one wing, catching Joey another strong--if not as powerful--ram to the head. Stunned and with spots dancing before his eyes, the blonde withdrew and collapsed on his back, falling into unconsciousness almost instantly.

The Queen Bird gave another call of triumph, but then abruptly took flight from where it had landed near Yami, rising into the air as a knife thudded into the ground where it had been a moment earlier.

"Leave them alone!" Kaze snarled, eyes terrifyingly icy once more, glaring up at the Queen Bird with two knives in hand.

The bird, in reply, shrieked again through its long beak and dived at him, calling loudly. Kaze managed to duck under the flurry of heavy wings as they passed over him, but was not so lucky in evading the talons--one of them slashed into his shoulder, tearing at his flesh and causing him to gasp in pain. Before he could retaliate, the bird retreated to the sky, swooping overhead and waiting for another chance to attack him. 

Kaze gasped in pain again, pressing one hand to his shoulder to hold the bleeding. This would not be so easy as the last battle, his opponent had the advantage of flight this time...

The bird dived at him again, calling loudly, and he dodged, managing to avoid both talons and wings. At the same time, he threw one of his knives, sending it thudding into the creature's side; it shrieked but snapped out with its large, sharp beak, clipping him on the arm and causing another wave of pain to shoot through him, though not as powerful as the last.

_Damn,_ he thought to himself, gasping slightly, _I have to get rid of its advantage or it'll kill me...but what the hell could I do?_

The Queen Bird took another pass at him, and he dived sideways, managing to avoid being hit at all, but not without a price--the creature managed to catch the edge of his trench coat in one of its talons, tangling it and pulling him off his feet, sending him crashing to the ground. Most unfortunately he landed on his wounded shoulder, and gave a hiss of pain, but pushed himself to his feet quickly, ignoring the wound for the moment.

His mind went to work, whirling quickly as he tried to think up every possible move he could make to defeat this creature. _Maybe when it tries to dive at me again I can attack one of its wings,_ he thought to himself, frowning slightly. It would be difficult, but he was sure he could do it...

His leg was pounding. He registered this rather suddenly; the old bullet wound was acting up again, protesting to so much rapid action when it was not strong enough to keep up. He shifted his weight to the other leg, trying to ease some of the pain, and watched the bird with focused eyes, waiting for the right moment.

It came soon enough. The bird gave another ear-splitting cry and dived again, talons forward to strike, beak pointed like a lance to stab. But Kaze was ready, counting down the seconds, waiting for the right chance...._just a little closer, come on, you stupid bird, just a few more feet...NOW!_

With a sharp movement, he sent several of his knives slicing out to plunge into the bird's left wing joint, where it connected the flying limb to the body. Shrieking in pain, it swept its wings out in an attempt to slow itself, but Kaze was waiting for this; he sent a barrage of knives slashing into the tender membranes of the wing, ripping and slicing at feathers and impaling the appendage itself. Pinion feathers torn apart and a hole cutting deep through its wing, the bird shrieked again, now rendered flightless. However, its momentum carried it onward, and it plunged downward at Kaze, beak snapping wildly as it lowered its talons, hit the ground, and slid forward crazily.

Kaze slashed out with a long-bladed dagger, managing to somehow 'parry' the bird's beak as it snapped at his face. Its momentum forced him backward, feet sliding on the ground as he attempted to hold firm, and then he was thrown onto his back, the creature slicing at him with sharp talons as continued to slide forward a few feet before falling clumsily forward onto the ground itself. Wings and feathers splayed around it in a confusing pattern as it fluttered crazily, attempting to get back on its spindly legs. 

Hurriedly, the Blue Eyes pulled himself onto his own feet, stumbling away from the bird as quick as he could and pressing one hand to his injured shoulder. His bad leg felt as though it was on fire by now, and was protesting painfully, screaming for him to stop moving, but he couldn't. The bird was going to come around for a counter attack any minute now, and flightless or not, it was still _very _dangerous.

He whirled just in time to see the bird shriek in outrage, then stomp forward with surprising speed for its large build. The wings, though useless, were held out to its sides for balance, and the long, serpentine neck and beak were held outward towards him, again like a lance, as though it thirsted to impale him. 

Wearily, he brought the long-bladed dagger to hand again, blocking the creature's steel-like beak with his blade. He vaguely felt another dagger slip into his hands from his instinctive wrist flick, and without hesitation he threw it, watching in satisfaction as it plunged into the base of the creature's neck. More knives found themselves in his hands, and then in turn in the creature's torso...but it was stubborn, refused to die, and it was snapping out at him in an outrage with its beak, trying to get past the blade defense to tear at its opponent's head. 

The Opposition leader thought he was doing well enough, under the circumstances, and knew that if he kept up his pace the creature would eventually die from the amount of blades that were impaled in its body. He found himself in shock, then, when his bad leg suddenly crumpled underneath him, having finally given out from the stress it was being put under, and dragged the rest of Kaze down with it. He felt himself crash down onto his back, long-bladed dagger clinking away _just _out of reach of his fingers...and then the bird was on him.

He'd seen something like this once before in the wild, he remembered distantly. An eagle had snatched a fish from a river, and feasted on the water-dwelling creature by slowly tearing it apart while it still lived. This felt much the same, and he supposed vaguely that it _was _the same, just on a larger scale.

The Queen Bird had leapt forward when it saw its prey fall, shrieking in triumph as it placed one large talon on the Opposition leader's chest, holding him down so he could not escape. It held its wings in a wide arc around itself and its fallen opponent, almost like a shield, and then, cawing in a sickening way, its beak descended, tearing at the teenager in its grasp. 

"_NO! _Brother!" Mokuba cried, voice desperate, as he watched helplessly from the side. He realized in the back of his mind that Kaze wasn't _actually _his brother, but it didn't matter to him--what mattered was that somebody who was enough like family to him was being torn apart in front of him, and he could do nothing but watch. Furious, he ran forward, hoping maybe he could distract the bird somehow...but it only lashed out one wing, crashing into his head and sending him spinning, stunned as Joey had been. 

Gasping, he hit the ground, rolling to a stop and feeling suddenly very tired and nauseated. He realized that he could still see what was going on, and tried to pull himself up to charge the bird again, but...

"NO! Stay where you are!" Kaze gasped, eyes clouded with pain but staring at him for a fraction of a second before returning dully to the bird. Mokuba gasped, but stayed rooted to the spot as commanded. 

In truth, it was really that cry of alarm from his True brother that had saved Kaze's life. He had been drifting away, almost dully, but the shrill cry had snapped him back into full realization of what was going on, and he _knew _for certainty that he _could not_ afford to die. 

The bird was still tearing at his skin, the talons on his chest squeezing hard and burrowing deeper into his torso. He screamed in pain, and was suddenly aware that those screams had translated themselves into words. "_DAMNIT! _You're not taking me out like this!"

There was a dagger in his hand, though how he had gotten it out of his trench coat in such conditions was a mystery he didn't think he would ever solve. It didn't matter; what mattered was that it was a weapon. With a wordless roar he plunged the blade deep into the creature's head, satisfied as a shriek of pain erupted from the beast. Its talons slashed further into his torso, but he ignored it, instead pulling out the dagger and plunging it back into the creature's head again. 

It gave a final scream of agony, head rearing up to call to the shadows above, much as the White Tiger had done. And again, just as with the White Tiger, it slowly faded away, daggers within it clinking to the ground when there was no longer anything to hold them up. The Queen Bird was dead.

Gasping slightly, Kaze laid still on the ground for several moments, thanking every god he knew for the life he still had. His wounds were pounding, his brain so overloaded with the sense of pain that it was making him dizzy, but he was undoubtedly _alive._

After several moments, he very slowly dragged himself to his feet, pressing one hand to his torso where the talons had bit deeply into him. Gasping slightly, he moved forward, collecting his daggers and slipping each back into its customary sheath with an unnatural slowness. 

It startled him when Mokuba was suddenly at his side, staring up at him with wide, worried eyes. The boy was still dizzy and slightly nauseous from the bird's strike, but felt for the most part fine, and he was incredibly worried about his Negative brother. 

"Kaze?" the black-haired boy asked, voice tentative, as he stared upwards at his brother. "Kaze...are you okay?"

"I'm...fine..." Kaze answered, voice unusually dull, and almost as if it had the intent to betray him a trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth.

"No you're not," Mokuba murmured, frowning slightly. He glanced over his brother's frame; every inch of him seemed to be practically covered in blood. The bird was dead, but it had left its mark without question. "You're hurt..."

"I'm fine, Mokuba," the Negative said again, trying to sound more gentle and reassuring, but the effect failed and only made his voice sound weaker. "Don't...worry."

"But....but brother...you're bleeding really badly!" Mokuba protested. 

"I've bled before...and I will again," the Blue Eyes murmured softly--his voice didn't seem to be any louder than _just _above a whisper, now. He scooped up his last dagger with a soft groan and turned towards the unconscious Yami and Joey. "We'd better...see to those two..." 

He walked slowly towards the two fallen comrades; his limp was _incredibly _heavy, and Mokuba noticed with increasing worry that he kept one hand pressed to his chest at all times, as though holding it together. Frowning, he trotted after his opposite brother--he didn't really feel like a person who wasn't his brother anymore, he realized-- staying right by his side, hoping he would be able to help if something went wrong.

But he wasn't expecting what came next.

Still nearly ten feet from the fallen pair, Kaze suddenly stopped short, clutching at his torso with both hands and groaning in an intense wave of pain. The groan gritted against his teeth as he clamped his jaw shut, attempting to hold the sound back, but it broke through like water from a shattered dam, turning into a cry of agony that fell dully against the silence of the Shadow Realm. 

"Brother?!" Mokuba yelped, startled, eyes glittering with unshed tears as he looked in fearfully worry at his Negative relative. "What's wrong?!"

But Kaze did not respond. His eyes were clamped shut now, and he was pressing so hard on his chest that blood ran in little rivers over his hands to drip to the ground below. Then, suddenly and completely without warning, his legs buckled underneath him again and he fell, landing face down on the ground of swirling shadows with an eerily silent impact and not moving again.

*****

HCG: And that's a wrap. I know, it be an absolutely terrible cliffie, indeed it is! Hah hah! So now you'll just have to wait...like two more months...before I update again! ^_~

Kawari: You enjoy being evil, don't you?

HCG: I wouldn't call it _evil..._I just like to torment the readers.

Kaze: @_X AND ME! 

HCG:...hmm...and you. *nods in agreement*

Kaze: *furious* You sicken me!

HCG: I'm sorry. o_O *gives Kaze a hug*

Kaze: GRR! *throws up his hands and stomps off, searching for coffee. REALLY EXTRA CAFFINATED COFFEE*

HCG: ^_^;; Oopsie...so...he didn't really like the ending...what about YOU guys? Okay, I realize you're all pulling out whatever spiffy weapons you own right about now to strike me down where I stand, but...erm...please don't? You won't figure out what happens otherwise! *sweatdrop*

Kaeru: *rolls eyes*

HCG: Erm...what else...oh yes! Firstly, Kanshinin's a bastard, ain't he? Meh. Name means "defender" in Japanese. Stupid jerk. Secondly, what'd you guys think of Mokuba "adopting" Kaze as another older brother? *snickers* Yeah, not a true brotherhood, but you know, it's cute and Kaze really needs a brother, poor guy. You guys seemed to like it _last _chapter and it wasn't even intentional then, so I figured, "'ey, perfect chance to add more!" And Thirdly...did this seem short to anybody after all the stuff I've written previously? XD, it's a good 23 pages without authoress notes and responses, but meh, that's pretty darned short for me. *sheepish grin*

Kawari: Oo;;

HCG: Er, yes. So. Review responses. On a general note, a lot of you said the Challenge from last chapter was similar to the plot for InuYasha. Actually, I didn't know this; I've never seen an episode of/read the manga of InuYasha, so I had no idea that there was a similarity. Had I known, I woulda come up with something else. ^^;; Anyway. Sorry 'bout that! Now, individual responses!

****

Evil Neptune ~ Yes, long chapters are good, but this one is short to give peoples' eyes a much needed break. ^^;; Nope, I haven't seen Ocean's 11, but high tech robberies are cool, meh heh heh *grin*. Nitpicky is good! I hadn't noticed the "ascent/accent" problem before, it doesn't show up on spell check and that was pretty much _all _I used to edit that chapter (tiredness will do that for ya ^^;;). No problem with the deadline, too, I knew a lot of people needed it. Anyway, thanks for your review!

****

Aurora-Lee ~ Well, you got more Kaze, that's for sure...Oh, and as to answer your questions: I thought I put it in one of the earlier chapters before, chappie 6 I think, but the Guardians' voices are more than actual sound, part of it is that they use a person's thoughts themselves to speak, so really only Kaeru, Kawari, and Mokuba were hearing it. And as for the Scroll, the Museum people can't read it, of course, but then it's kinda like the God of Ra/"Winged Dragon of Ra" card...only certian people can read that "brand" of hieroglyphics. Three guesses who can in the group. ^_~

****

Quintessence ~ Yeah, Kaiba's computer gets no credit in anything. It saved Yugi in a duel, after all! Poor thing...XD. Oooh, so we've got a fencer in the house? I'm not surprised those terms aren't used, most instructors don't do that...a "passata-sotto" is a dodging move in which you basically duck under your opponent's attack, "round six" is when, while blades are engaged, you disengage and twirl your own blade all the way around theirs back to the starting point (most confusing for the enemy) and an "in-quartata" is when you side-step the attack your opponent makes (or at least attempt to). As for the rest of your review, although I would love to say I had a reason for 17 pieces, I didn't (^^;;) and as for the climates, I wanted to emphasize how strange the place was and how seemingly random the Guardians are, so I brought them to a place where a desert can sit right next to an arctic blizzard and seem "normal." And as for your final question, it's a good one. Myself, I'd say that I originally created the Realms as different histories, almost, so in one maybe Yugi has kids, but in the other the Mouto line is wiped out. They are meant to be different, after all...but I'm sure there's _many _theories as to how this could be answered. Whooo, what a long response!

****

LoneWolf16 ~ CARPS, that is one long review. I think I'm just going to pick out the questions and answer those, that's it ^^;;; Yes, I was using fencing terms. You're right, a dirk is shorter than a foil, but keep in mind that it is a _European _blade, those blades originating from Japan and other countries, European blades tend to follow a more strict, not as varied style. 'Sides, a lunge with a dirk and a lunge with a _real _foil will both kill ya if they go through your heart, so...*shrug* And Kawari _did _use a few modified fencing moves in Chappie 7. *chuckle* As for me, I learned this all in my school, there's a fencing class in the gym/wellness department and a fencing club after school. They only teach foil, so that's my style, but I'd love to use epee, that one looks fun, if slightly painful. Yes, Kawari holds many convenient things in his pockets, that's the beauty of those big baggy pants--like the ones you find in _Hot Topics _but without so much chain and bondage, XD. Let's see, the Challenge...no, I did absolutely no research whatsoever, I just listened in biology class when ecosystems was the topic of the week ^~ The Scrolls: you point out that the guardians have been described as "male" while some of WSJ's elements are female. Actually, I'm not basing this on the elemental figures themselves--people like Fate and Passion aren't the guardians here. I'm just using the Elements themselves. As for your questions that were answered, note: this chapter was NOT the "big bang." This was a _little _bang, not particularly important. The SR is still building up...*evil grin* *looks at response* Geeze, that was long even without me commenting on everything you said. Oo;; Well...to more reviews...

****

Aisu ~ Aisu it is. Hey, my spell checker does that to their names too! XD, Microsoft Word is silly...*snicker* Oh, and as for the duel, I didn't think you could save a given summon either, but hey, creative liberties, right? I mean, if Yami can fuse a _magic card _to a monster in the show, I don't think it matters if you save your summon. XD.

****

Wingleader Sora Jade ~ XD, I saw that episode. Except for the fact that both hologram and regular Kaiba had _extremely _large egos, I woulda mistaken one for Kaze too *snicker* Well, 'cept that I saw the whole thing, didn't just walk in on it...*coughs, continues* So, you are one of the many people that thought Mokuba calling both Seto _and _Kaze "big brother" was cute, eh? Well, what'd you think of the "adoption?" XD. Um....and the ending? @@;; *holds Kawari in front of her like a shield* You can't kill his bishie-ness to get to me! I am safe! HAH! *blinks* OOH, you have Sacred Cards too? I love that game! Beat it in three days by playing it whenever I had a free moment, which wasn't often...bwahaha, I beat Yami Malik 4 times by using Obelisk and my Barrel Dragon...*snicker* He was hard to beat though...and Kaiba, sadly, was a piece of cake. *tuts*

****

Windswift ~ Another person that pities the computer! I've only ever seen it in ONE other fic besides this one. Poor thing. *smirk* And you'll see if Ryou gets to be in a Challenge or not...*chuckle* Hm, I influenced Yami no Yuugi? Well, as long as he isn't a complete rip-off, which doesn't appear to be the case...*shrug*

****

Chan ~ Hiya Chan! Did I fix the its/it's problem? Or at least do better? @_X I tried! oO I didn't mean to keep you up so late. This one is shorter, maybe it'll be a faster read! ^^ *gasp* TILLY! *takes Tilly from a confused Kawari, hugs him, and gives him treats* YAY! TILLY!

****

The Mad Tortoise ~ How do I tie up all the details for later when they're more important? *shrugs* I have a whole outline of this story. It's been planned out since last February in 2003, from beginning to end. I just have to write it all out. *cheery grin*

****

Daricio ~ Okay, let me see if I can explain this. You say the Negatives appear way too calm, yet when you get into one of their POV's, they suddenly have emotion. This is because of two reasons. _Firstly, _the Negative Realmers are war-trained, and this is a _very _vital part as to why they act the way they do. They have learned _not _to show their enemy how they're reacting to whatever is going on, despite how they feel, and they've learned how to keep a straight face despite what's going on. So while the TR characters might be startled or freak out about something that happens and _show it_, the Negative Realmers could be just as scared but covering their emotions. _Secondly, _recall that after what they've been going through in the NR, the TR seems like a piece of cake and they may just not be phased by it at all--they've seen worse. You've probably experienced something like that too...maybe, for example, a younger sibling is having trouble with their math homework, and while they're panicking 'cause they don't understand the material, you can react with a "pfft, _that's _nothing, wait until you get into _my _math class," type of attitude. Same thing for the Negatives, just in a war sense. When they're put back into context in a Realm where things _are _tough for them, you would probably see more emotion, since the Negative Realm is something they _can't _handle (which explains how they are less calm in STL, they're in their own context in a place where the outcome is _not _going to be a clean win for them). Am I making any sense? 

As for Darika's comment on fencing, well, she obviously hasn't fenced before, not to sound rude. When you're practicing different movements and techniques, first you just practice the _style _of whatever it is you're doing, before you try it on an opponent. I can't tell you how often I've been in my fencing class and have advanced on, retreated from, lunged at, stabbed, and parried against thin air. It's when you understand the basics of what you're supposed to be doing, or when you've finished warming up, that you use an opponent, and if you'll notice, that's what Kawari did. He warmed up first, practicing all the movements, then had some target practice with the grapes, and _finally_ he used his skills against his trainer, Kaeru. Kawari by no means taught himself to fight by poking thin air for the past six years. No, if his defense is bad it's because it's a difficult thing to master, especially in the heat of battle. CARPS, that was the longest review response of all of them...*sweatdrop* Well, hope that answers your major questions...

****

Trinity Star and her Muses ~ Oh, hey, happy laaaate birthday. Glad the chapter came up in time for that, hee hee. 

****

Ebony Kuroneko ~ Keep Nozomi as long as you need to ^^ But I'll have to give him an extra glomp when he gets back. Hee hee. Kawari with a Bandit Keith voice, eh? Well yes, I have to agree that I can't imagine him with an accent. Kaeru's the same, although that grating tone he has in his voice in the show I can imagine. ^^;; I can't imagine Kaze with a Kaiba voice either, strangely enough, but maybe it's because whenever he speaks on the show it's like he keeps half his ego in his freakin' _voice_, and Kaze doesn't act like that. Ah well. 

HCG: *cough* AAAAND that's it for review responses! Geeze, took me two hours...oO I had a lot more reviews than I usually get. I feel loved! ^^ Thanks guys!

Kawari: *rolls eyes*

HCG: *cough* ANYWAY. I think I'll just go to sleep now....I'm exhausted, and I didn't' even stay up late this time writing...but ya know, when you get a free day off of school, use it...to sleep! Hee hee hee...so review, folks, I'd appreciate it! And DO NOT HARM THE AUTHORESS! @_X Or you'll NEVER figure out what happened to Kaze! BWAHAHAHA!


	12. The Ways of Fate

((HOLY SHITE folks, I think this is the longest I've gone without posting yet. I've got a good reason though...moving. Yes, I've been stressed about moving for ages now, but it's finally done and over with, and I'm just unpacking and getting settled in. Sorry! At least the chapter's up though, riiiight? Riiiiight?))

HCG: And here I am, returning once again with chappie 12! Isn't it _exciting?!_

Kawari:....yeah...sure..._exciting..._[rolls eyes]

HCG: [cheerfully and rather unaware of the sarcasm] I know! And guess what else? I have a guest! [points at newcomer cheerfully]

Unmei: (WSJ's blind, telepathic version of Ryou, seen in her _Tales of the Child of Fate _series) Er...hello?

HCG: WSJ said she had too many muses to deal with at the moment, so she let me take Unmei off her hands for a while! I have to give him back, but...not right now...[grins, then latches onto Unmei, immediately taking to playing with his loooong ponytail of white hair]

Unmei: -- WSJ, I don't deserve this...let me come back, please?! Give HCG one of your hyperactive chibis!

HCG: Aw, come on, WSJ stole Kaze from me for a while so it's only fair that I get one of _her _more prominent characters!

Unmei: Couldn't it have been Chiot then?

HCG: But I like _you _more and she let me pick!

Unmei: [siiigh]

Kawari: You have my pity.

Unmei: [somewhat sarcastic] Gee, thanks. Any chance that you could make her _stop _playing with my hair?

Kawari: _I'm _not dumb enough to cross the authoress.

Unmei: xX wonderful. [puts up with HCG playing with his hair rather reluctantly, then notices Kawari's still there] Hey, I thought **Ebony Kuroneko **took you because HCG lost the 'who's fic'll be out first' bet?

Kawari: She did. But I was too much to handle. [smirk] She took Kaze instead.

Unmei: Ah. [Sighs and waits for HCG to STOP playing with his hair]

HCG: [gleefully toys with the ponytail for a few minutes, then coughs] Er...yes! So, readers! Are you ready for this next chapter?!

Readers: Yes!

HCG: I bet you can't wait!

Readers: Yes!

HCG: I bet you're all ready to see what happens to Kaze!

Readers: _Yes!_

HCG: I bet you're thinking I'm being annoying right now and want the evil cliffie solved really badly!

Readers: _YES!_

HCG:.................well too bad. This chapter's about the other group that headed off for the Scroll at the Temple of Darkness.

Readers: [all stare for a minute, then with an amazing speed pull out various weapons, brandish them, and form an angry mob]

HCG: [deeep sweatdrop] AGH! NO KILLIE! I DON'T WANNA DIEEEEE! [runs off wailing....dragging Unmei with her to act as protection, since he IS a super powerful telepath]

Unmei: x Dangit, I thought she woulda freed me....[gets dragged off and is cut short]

Kaeru: [looks after HCG's retreating dust cloud] Not the brightest of people, is she?

Kawari: No kidding. [rolls eyes]

Kaiba: -- well, as HCG has left her post, I suppose I, being her muse, am forced to take her place. [exasperated sigh] Right. First things first; the answer to the _Capere Vitam Primam _question. The title of the story means "To take a first life," or "To take the first life." A few people got it right. Good for those few people; you're not all a bunch of morons out there, I guess. [rolls eyes]

Kawari: -- How nicely put.

Kaiba: Shut up. [looks over clipboard] Nothing else to announce, it says here. Fine then. Disclaimer: the High Crystal Guardian doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, but she does own the Negative Realm, related characters, and all ideas and theories connected to it. While she doesn't own the Elements themselves...those are Wingleader Sora Jade's...she owns the Realm Scrolls that they're used with. That's it. [irritated look] I should be paid for this job, not forced to do it. It sucks. Somebody get me out of here!

Kaeru: And here I'd have thought you would have given up escaping a long time ago.

Kaiba: [Annoyed look] I'll get out eventually!

Kawari: Sure you will. I'd suggest you do your job until then.

Kaiba: [irritated] Alright, fine. The stupid notes are next...

Notes:

**Kawari **NR Ryou

**Kaeru **NR Bakura

**Kaze **NR Kaiba

**Saguru **NR Joey

_italics are thoughts or memories/dreams_

Special thanks to WSJ and Ebony Kuroneko, who helped come up with this Challenge. I just expanded on their ideas.

Also, blah on FF.net, which changed my good ol' symbols completely. I know several other people are extremely angry about this...somebody make FF.net burn! [searches for Bakura and his flamethrower]

**Negative Chaos**

Chapter 12: The Ways of Fate

          Things were going quite slowly back at the Kaiba Mansion, leaving its two Scroll-hunting occupants incredibly bored beyond belief. Kaiba and Saguru had been monitoring Police activity all night long, as well as keeping a good watch on the museum security and staff, but nothing had happened so far; Kaeru knew what he was doing as far as stealing things went.

            With nothing else to do, the two of them had retreated to other activities to pass the time. Kaiba had gone back to his work, and was now clicking madly on his laptop, hoping to at least get a portion of what was now yesterday's work done on time. Saguru was amusing himself by going through Kaiba's rare collections of cards, currently stored in his briefcase (Kaiba was only letting him to keep the Negative Joey quiet, since he really wasn't interested in conversation with the teen when he had better things to do).

            "Damn," Saguru commented suddenly, "just seeing all these cards reminds me how great a duelist Kaze used to be."

            "Yes, well," the CEO began to respond, voice slightly dry, "I'm not the number one duelist for no--"

            He halted in mid-sentence rather suddenly, shock playing over his features for a split second before returning to his original emotionless look. For, suddenly and completely without warning, a searing pain had shot through his chest, before disappearing just as suddenly as though it had never existed.

            Startled, he stopped typing, pressing one of his hands to his chest in confusion. He was completely fine, no wounds, no hints of internal injury--nothing. His startled look turned very slowly to a frown...._what _was going on here?

            Saguru, alerted by the halt of both Kaiba's voice and the sudden lack of typing sounds on a keyboard, looked up, instantly wary. "What's wrong?"

            Kaiba's sudden frown vanished and he went back to work, looking a bit more irritable than usual at the sight of the worried version of Joey staring at him. "Nothing."

            Saguru rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. You're lying."

            Seto focused on his work, mind slightly divided from it due to the sudden pain he had experienced, but he still found a moment to shoot a response to Saguru. "I'd like to see you prove it."

            "Really, would you?" Saguru asked, a smirk playing over his features. He carefully replaced Kaiba's cards into the briefcase, speaking as he did so. "Okay then, I will. I've noticed you and Kaze, opposites or not, have the same expressions, and I am an _expert _at figuring out what's on Kaze's mind back at the Opposition." He stood up, grinning over at Kaiba in an almost easy going manner. "I ain't the Second in Command for nothing."

            Kaiba gave an irritated sigh and continued on with his work, ignoring Saguru. "Fine. Whatever. At the moment I really couldn't care less, I just want to get this paperwork done."

            "Suit yourself," the Negative replied, his smirk disappearing to be replaced with a serious look that, had it been on Joey, would have looked completely out of character. "Now let's see here. Your eyes have narrowed considerably and they aren't focusing as much on one particular thing like they would normally. My guess is you're either angry or worried about something." Kaiba said nothing, so he continued. "The way you're typing is what's going to influence my guess. You're not banging on the keys like you would if you're angry; actually, if anything, you're tapping on them too lightly. You're obviously not focused on your work, so it's my guess that you're worried about something."

            Kaiba was inwardly amazed--how the hell could this moron, a _Joey _no less, spot such tiny details to put together a guess like that? Outwardly, he kept his face perfectly smooth, continuing with his work as though nothing had been proven against him.

            But Saguru was grinning. "Hah, I was right, wasn't I?" he asked, the smirk coming back.

            Kaiba twitched slightly. "How could you know--"

            "You better watch your hands, they give you away a lot. Your left one faltered while typing for a second when I made my guess." The Negative Joey grinned. "So, was I right?"

            Seto looked even more irritable now, and had to remind himself strongly about the deal he'd made with his opposite to be polite to both versions of Joey. "Yes," he finally hissed, annoyed, "you're right. I'm worried about something. Happy?"

            "Not quite," Saguru said, serious look returning. "It's the _cause _I'm more interested in learning. Why suddenly be worried?"

            Kaiba felt like arguing at this point, and snapped, "What about Mokuba? Did it ever occur to you I could be worried about my own _brother?_"

            "Actually," the Negative answered, looking quite serious, "that did occur to me, but I discarded the idea. Kaze's looking out for your brother and it's guaranteed he's in safe hands. No," he continued, shaking his head, "I think this sudden cause for worry has something to do with why you suddenly stopped talking." He gave Kaiba a look. "So are you going to tell me what happened?"

            Kaiba growled at the tone Saguru took; it sounded almost as if the _Negative _was in charge, and not him! "Why should I tell you something that isn't any of your business?" he snapped, annoyed.

            Saguru crossed his arms over his chest, serious look never once leaving him. "Because," he said, quite calmly, "you have that thought connection to Kaze, which is the only explainable reason for you to suddenly become worried over nothing, and while stuff concerning you isn't any of my business, anything about my _boss _is." He gave Kaiba a flat look, and then continued. "So I suggest you not withhold any information concerning the Opposition's leader, because as the Second it is my duty to take hold of that information."

            Kaiba narrowed his eyes slightly at the authoritive tone, but found himself rather grudgingly agreeing in his head with the Negative. If something happened to the President of a company, the Vice-President had the right to know, and he supposed it was the same with this Opposition.

            "Fine then," he answered, sounding a bit angry--he didn't have to _like _giving in to the Joey's demands, after all--"I'll give you that information. Just a few minutes ago I felt a shot of pain in my chest, but I have no idea where it came from--I'm not injured." He gave Saguru a glare. "There, you happy?"

            "I wouldn't say _happy,_" the Second muttered, frowning at this new piece of information. "I wonder if pain can travel through a thought link?"

            "No idea," Kaiba growled, turning back to his work once again. "Whatever it was, it's gone now, and good riddance." All the same, he rubbed at his chest a little, recalling vividly the memory of the pain only a few minutes ago.

            "Hope they get out of there soon," Saguru murmured, sitting down again and not losing his frown.

            Kaiba ignored him, going back to his work, but he still felt distracted. A final thought slipped through his head, remarkably clear...._had something happened to his opposite?_

                        ()                      ()                      ()                      ()                      ()

            Kaeru, Kawari, Ryou, Téa, and Tristan paced through the darkness of night in a town nearly and hour and a half's time of driving from Domino City, searching for the boundary that would act as their limit before they needed to cross over into the Shadow Realm. Kaeru was at their lead, his false Millennium Ring glowing brightly as it checked the energies of the Dark realm, and the others trailed behind rather like hunters after a hound, not having anything to do until the boundary was discovered.

            Upon splitting up from Yami and his group, the five had borrowed a car from Kaiba (or at least, Kaeru and Kawari called it "borrowing"; the other three weren't sure Seto knew that he was loaning out one of his vehicles), since Kaeru had informed them that the boundary was some distance away and it would be pointless to walk there. They spent an hour and a half in the car, Téa driving since she had gotten the most rest, while Tristen, Ryou, Kawari and even Kaeru took a snooze, the spirit in his soul room and the others leaning against the car windows. This, Ryou noted with interest, was the first major time he'd seen Kawari have trouble with anything--his Negative appeared to have difficulty sleeping and often woke at the slightest touch of the hand or jerk of the car. 'War training,' he'd called it, which _did _make sense, considering all those other war stories [1], but Ryou had a slight suspicion there was more to it than that.

            When they had gotten close to the boundary, Kaeru momentarily possessed his hikari and told Téa to pull over. She did, parking neatly in a spare lot in the new city they had come to, and the five exited the car, waiting to go on their hunt.

            From there, it had been twenty minutes of follow the leader, taking them into the present. Kaeru had spent most of the time weaving between buildings, gliding up and down alleys, and following the Ring's indications without question while the others tried to keep up. At first, it seemed like they were going in circles, but after some time had passed Kaeru finally came to a halt in the middle of an alley, a slight smirk on his face.

            "Got it," he said calmly, turning to look over his shoulder at the four behind him. Kawari looked bored, as though this were some routine, Téa and Tristen both looked a little nervous, and Ryou looked partly worried, and partly interested. "This is as far as we can go. We're heading into the Shadow Realm, now."

            "Right," his lighter half said, nodding, and then motioned to the three True Realmers. "Come over here. We need to do this under cover, so no wandering eyes see Shadow Realm related things." He turned, heading behind a dumpster, which was the only thing that could act as cover within the area.

            Téa wrinkled her nose, following somewhat reluctantly, as the others trooped behind her. "Eew. Couldn't you have picked a better spot? It stinks here!"

            Kawari gave her a look. "Where else do you want us to hide, inside the brick walls?" he asked flatly, tapping his gloved knuckles on the wall behind them. "I don't think so. And as for the smell, we're only going to be here for a minute or two, so deal. It smells a _lot _better than some of the stuff back home, at any rate, so I don't see why you're complaining. Garbage is perfume compared to blood and burnt flesh."

            Téa, needless to say, was a little surprised at this, but notably stopped complaining within a few moments.

            Kaeru shook his head, looking slightly annoyed or exasperated, but quickly went to work. He did not bother to take control of Kawari's body in order to work the magic of the Shadow Realm; he had long since become accustomed to strengthening his temporary physical form's magical abilities, as he often had to work as a separate being from his aibou and could not afford to be weaker because of it. Instead, his own false Ring glowed once more, all five pointers waving as if blown by some mysterious wind as its owner controlled the magic released from it. All it took was one small motion in the air with his hand, and a black disc sliced the air open in front of them, sitting there expectantly and glittering with a light that was not light at all, only light_er _shadows.

            "There," the spirit said calmly, glancing back casually once again at the group he was responsible for. "The portal awaits." He moved forward and easily stretched out his hand, brushing at the edges of the gate gently, yet somehow exerting enough force to pull and stretch the portal open wide enough for a person to fit through. It looked oddly as though he was opening a door for somebody behind him.

            "You'll have to go first," he continued, hand still held in place as though he had to forcefully hold the portal in place. "I need to sustain this here until everyone has passed through."

            Kawari allowed a very faint grin to pass over his face. "Okay then," he said, sounding almost cheerful, "let's go!" He grabbed Ryou's wrist, as his True happened to be the closest person to him, gave a quick tug, as if to say 'Come on!' and then leapt through the portal, Ryou vanishing into it moments after him.

            Téa and Tristen stared in surprise. "I've never seen anybody so..er..._not _nervous about going into the Shadow Realm," Tristen commented, raising an eyebrow slightly.

            Kaeru shrugged. "What's the point of fearing something if you're going to be working with it a lot?"

            "Er.."

            The spirit smirked a little. "Exactly. No point. I taught Kawari to look at things the same way." He nodded towards the portal. "Now if you would enter so that I can close this..." The two remaining mortals, catching his meaning, hastily stepped through the portal, and Kaeru entered last after them, closing the nightmarish-black disc with another wave of his hand.

            As he stepped towards the others casually, he became aware of the conversation that was currently going on; Ryou was just finishing up a sentence. "--place always creeps me out," the True hikari said, sighing. "I've never liked it."

            "Hey, it's not exactly my choice for a vacationing spot either, but we're safe. Kaeru's with us, remember?" Kawari said, looking confident as he spoke of his yami.

            "I suppose," Téa admitted, "but it's not like we've had many good scenarios with Bakura and the Shadow Realm. It's still a little..weird, I guess."

            "Point taken," Kaeru said calmly, coming up to stand next to the girl absently, "but still, don't let this place psyche you out. You'll be safe here, that's my job."

            Téa blinked in surprise since she hadn't heard Kaeru coming up behind her--the Shadow Realm didn't have much of a ground or floor to make noise on--but nodded quickly. "Er..right. Thanks."

            "You guys _really _don't like this place, do you?" Kawari observed, somewhat dryly, as he glanced at the expressions on the True Realmers' faces.

            "Nope. Nothing good ever happens here." This was Tristen, although he was attempting to copy the cool, calm demeanor that the Negatives were showing. "What about you guys? How's the Shadow Realm in your Realm?"

            "Technically," Kaeru said, raising an eyebrow slightly, "the Shadow Realm is its own Realm onto itself, but we get what you mean. And as for our experiences there, well, they vary. We use it a lot now that the Hand doesn't have any more Millennium Items at its disposal, but when Yami had it four months ago...it wasn't pretty, let me tell you." He grimaced a little.

            "Speaking of which," Kawari spoke up, eyeing Kaeru slightly, "should we use our guard tactic? It would make things a lot easier."

            Kaeru nodded. "Yeah, it would. We'll need a guard, especially since the Shadow Realm has gotten even _more _dangerous with this Overflowing. Besides," he continued, "the latest Verse suggested that there would be monsters guarding the Temple, and it would be extremely inconvenient if we met one."

            Ryou blinked in surprise. "A...guard?" he asked, looking confused.

            "Yeah," Kawari answered him, grinning a little as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a slightly battered deck. "A guard. It'll scout around and ward off monsters...or at least warn us about them. We use the tactic a lot when we have to transport supplies or people through the Shadow Realm." He paused, considering a card in his deck that he had been flipping through, and then tossed it to Kaeru. "Here...that one's a high flyer and it'll be able to ward off attackers easily enough..." he laughed a little. "Plus it fits the whole mood well...Negatives and Trues and all."

            Kaeru caught the card easily out of the air, glanced down at it, and then smirked a little. "Well, you're certainly right, I suppose. She definitely does fit the mood." Raising the card casually between two fingers, he concentrated, and the Ring around Kawari's neck glowed as the monster within the card was summoned.

            The shadows nearby swirled and condensed together, forming a vague shape of a creature, which quickly began to gain color and an identity. Within several minutes, a very familiar figure had appeared--long hair, mismatched wings, and a half black, half white robe that split the figure neatly into a dark and light half. Unmistakably a Change of Heart.

            Ryou gasped in surprise and stared at it for a minute; although he was used to the summoning of real live monsters by now, it still surprised him to see his favorite card hovering before him, alive as he was.

            Kawari, next to him, chuckled slightly and elbowed him gently in the ribs. "Your favorite too, huh?" he asked, grinning a little.

            Ryou nodded slightly. "Yeah," he said, still staring at the Change of Heart with a sort of awe.

            Kaeru, meanwhile, had turned to the monster that appeared and was calmly instructing it, but not in Japanese. The three True Realmers recognized it after a few minutes as Ancient Egyptian, mostly by the general sound, though they were a little surprised by this discovery. Confused, they had turned to Kawari to get some questions answered.

            "Why isn't he talking to it in Japanese?" Téa started out, blinking in curiosity.

            Kawari just shrugged. "Well, it's a monster from Egypt, isn't it? So it only speaks and comprehends Ancient Egyptian."

            "All of them do?" Tristen asked, raising an eyebrow. "That has to be a hassle."

            "Well, not _all _of them," Kawari admitted, paying attention absentmindedly to what his yami was saying to the summoned monster. "Some of them understand modern languages, depending on who summons them and how often. I'd bet some of your Yami's more prominent monsters would be able to understand some Japanese even if they don't actually speak it. Our Pegasus back home has monsters that understand English." He shrugged again. "Most just stick with their home language though."

            "Oh...so what's he saying?" the True Realmers asked, watching Kaeru.

            Kawari listened for a moment, then translated, pausing momentarily at a few words but for the most part making the translation smooth. " 'Circle the area that we occupy by a fifty yard radius and search it for possible threats of surrounding monsters. If any are spotted, either attempt to drive them away or, if this is not possible, report back immediately in order to give preparation time. That is all.' That's the end of the message."

            It did indeed appear to be the end, for the Change of Heart gave a small yet formal bow and turned away, sweeping out its wings and plunging into the 'sky' above them to do as it had been asked. After a few moments it was no longer visible, its graceful form lost in the writhing, cloudy mass of shadows.

            "That's that," Kaeru said calmly. "Now...let me think..ah yes, shields." The Millennium Ring flashed momentarily, and the mortals felt a sense of pressure being lifted off them ever so slightly, relief flooding through them as their minds and consciousness' no longer had to fight the Shadow Realm, however unconsciously they had been doing it.

            "This is only a weak shield," Kaeru explained carefully, "so if you feel faint, tired, or drained, let me know immediately. I don't want to waste too much energy protecting everybody _fully _or there won't be enough left in case we get in a tight spot." He frowned momentarily, and then added, "I just hope the Pharaoh thinks of that. From what I've seen of the way he acts, he'll try to be extra noble and protect everybody with the strongest shields he can produce, but he'll have lost all his energies if he gets into a fight, and that won't turn out all too well."

            "What about Kaze?" Ryou asked, blinking slightly. "Wouldn't he think of it?"

            "Maybe, but I doubt it," Kaeru said, shaking his head. "Kaze doesn't work with the Shadow Realm that much, that's really _my _department, along with the rest of the Millennium Item owners in our Realm. He has too much on his plate to handle the Shadow Realm as well...but because of that he doesn't know some of our major strategies there, and that could turn out for the worse now." He paused momentarily, then continued. "But it doesn't matter now. We have no way to change what goes on in their group, so we'll just hope their Scroll hunt goes well, and continue with ours." He turned slightly, heading off in one direction with the rest following him. "Let's go."

            In the beginning, trekking through the Shadow Realm as if they were on some hike, along with a spirit who, though on their side, was still a Bakura and was inadvertently freaking them out, did not seem much like the True Realm beings' idea of a picnic. At Kaeru and Kawari's apparent ease in the Shadow Realm, however, the remaining members of the group began to feel safer, and even began to break out into idle chatter. The entire trip would have been fine, they had guessed, but for one thing: _he _had decided to take the journey with them.

            Just as Tristen had been explaining eagerly about several of the streetfights he and Joey had gotten himself into to a rather interested Kawari and Kaeru, Bakura, of all people, suddenly materialized in their mist, looking particularly murderous and ready to kill something. By the way he was eyeing Kawari, it looked as though the Negative Ryou had been deemed a good subject.

            At his sudden appearance, Tristen and Téa had given small gasps of surprise, while Ryou had backed up several paces and bumped into Kaeru, who had been near him. At the slight jolt, Kaeru had turned to look over his shoulder to see what the commotion was; he spotted his opposite instantly and broke into a growl, Kawari nearby throwing the True tomb robber a dark glare.

            "What are you doing out?" Kaeru snapped, breaking the tension that had lasted several seconds, though it seemed like more.

            Bakura still had his murderous scowl on and did not stop throwing Kawari glares (which the Negative unhesitatingly returned) but when he answered, he managed to keep his voice _relatively _smooth. "No law saying I can't," he said, smirking a little. "I felt like stretching my legs after that...incident." His lip curled; he was obviously _very _pissed about his loss to Kawari.

            "Well you have. Go back to your soulroom," Kaeru growled back. Bakura shifted his glares from Negative hikari to yami; Téa had a distinct feeling that there was enough angry energy flashing between the two to create a lightning bolt.

            "Tch. You can't order me. Who the hell do you think you are?"

            "You, stupid. Now get back to your soulroom."

            Bakura smirked a little, but his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Make me."

            Kaeru's eyes also narrowed, and being that the two _were _the same person, the strange effect that one was staring into a mirror was brought off, as the actions occurred at the same time. "I bet Kawari would love to."

            "Hah!" Bakura gave a small, dark chuckle, crossing his arms over his chest. "Look at you. The spirit hiding behind the host. Pathetic! Do you use your _hikari _to do your dirty work now? Is he your attack dog?" Another smirk, causing Ryou to grimace slightly; his yami was obviously trying to be annoying, now.

            Kawari bristled at this statement, eyes narrowing until they almost mirrored that of Bakura and Kaeru, but it was the Negative thief that spoke. "No," he snapped, tone of voice showing his anger to match Kawari's, "he's not a possession, and I believe we went over this before. If I _could _attack you, rest assured I would have kicked your ass by now, but as the Realm laws stand it appears my hikari is the only one of us that can fight you." He glared for a minute, then gave a smirk identical to Bakura's. "Besides, it isn't as if _I _need to defeat you, my _hikari _appears to be able to do so just as well. Or perhaps you didn't notice, what with being unconscious and all."

            That comment certainly hit home with Bakura; the tomb robber snarled angrily, half reaching for his back pocket--and deck--before he remembered the Realm laws as well, stating he couldn't win a fight against his opposite. Still furious, he spoke. "Be that as it may, my point still remains. I'm staying out, so if you want me to go back to my soulroom, you'll have to _make_ me." His glare shifted back to Kawari, who was still bristling. "And believe me, if you try to fight me again I will make you _pay,_ by Ra."

            "I'm so scared," Kawari said mockingly, his gloved hand forming a fist.

            "You should be."

            "Sure. Whatever."

            The two looked like they were indeed squaring off for another fight, but Téa broke in rather suddenly, grimacing a little. "Guys..." neither Kawari or Bakura appeared to be listening, so she appealed to Kaeru instead. "Kaeru...don't you think we should get moving? I mean...if those shields of yours really _are _weak, like you said, then we want to get in and out of here quick before the Shadow Realm has a chance to break through them."

            Tristen nodded, agreeing, though he watched the two white haired beings bristling at each other rather warily. "That means we wouldn't have time for this fight...we gotta get moving _now._"

            Kaeru looked irritated, but finally nodded at the logic in this statement. "Fine," he finally snapped, glaring at Bakura and obviously not liking the idea of 'losing' to his opposite, "but you're supporting yourself, I'm not shielding you."

            Bakura smirked, giving a rather mocking bow. "Of course," he said, a dark laughter escaping his lips. Although he gave no appearance of having used any magic, he had evidently already shielded himself, as he was now simply standing (although he had not ceased his glaring contest with Kawari, and this was, apparently, the battle that was replacing the one they had been just about to commence).

            "Okay," Kaeru muttered, now looking a lot more annoyed, "Let's get going. And _you,_" he added, giving Bakura an angry look, "will be traveling up front with me, and Ryou will be staying away from you."

            Bakura laughed a little, thinking it worth it to give in to that particular command so long as he could perhaps cause a little more inconvenience and perhaps, if he got lucky, havoc. "Don't trust me?" he asked, again rather mockingly.

            "Not as far as I can throw you," his Negative responded.

            The True thief shook his head, tutting a little. "Don't you know you should always _trust _your companions?" he responded, taking the words Téa used so often, but his tone of voice completely mutilated their true meaning and turned it to a pile of ash.

            "You're not a companion. You're an inconvenience. Now do shut up, I have to get everybody to that temple and you're not helping any by being here."

            Bakura just laughed.

            From then on, the journey to the Temple of Darkness was not _quite _as cheerful. For one thing, the confident moods that Kaeru and Kawari had held earlier were gone, and the True Realm beings were feeling rather nervous with the presence of the Bakura that _had _caused them so much trouble. The spirit seemed to take delight in constantly looking over his shoulder, sending dark, murderous glares around to those walking behind him, as if saying that he was simply _itching _to kill something, preferably one of them. Usually this made Ryou and Téa shiver, while Tristen would look slightly unnerved and Kawari often appeared to be debating attacking the spirit head on or wasting a few extra seconds to draw _Gin Hebi. _And in addition to the True Realm Bakura, there was Kaeru as well, who looked particularly annoyed now, something that most of them were pretty sure a Bakura shouldn't be for one's own personal safety.

            Yes, all of the True Realmers silently agreed that two angry Bakura's and an equally annoyed Negative Ryou were probably not the _best _conditions for traveling, and through such a dangerous place, at that.

            After perhaps two hours of such tension had passed, however, the results of their traveling finally began to be rewarded. Far ahead of them, still quite a bit of walking distance away, a speck could be seen against the horizon. They weren't sure how they saw it, because it seemed just as dark as Shadow Realm, and at first most of them had thought it was simply a trick played on their eyes--until Kaeru announced they had reached their destination.

            "That," he said quietly, pointing ahead at the speck in the distance, "is the Temple of Darkness, and the home of one of our Scrolls."

            Tristen looked relieved. "_Finally!_ Geez, you think they'd make it a little closer to that borderline."

            Bakura looked over his shoulder again, fixed Tristen with a glare, and said rather flatly, "Fool."

            "Hey!" the boy protested. "What was that f--"

            "Because you're a fool, that's why," Bakura said, smirking a little and delighting in annoying--and scaring--the mortals further. "They're _meant _to be far for a reason, you stupid mortal, and--"

            "Shut it, Bakura," Kaeru snapped. "We're not interested in hearing it."

            "I honestly cannot believe you can put up with these morons without wanting to throttle one," the True thief stated, looking distinctly annoyed.

            "Call it a skill. Now shut up," Kaeru retorted.

            Bakura looked as if he was getting ready to argue more, but was brought short by the sudden fluttering noise that came through their midst. The noise was soon connected to the monster that was swooping gently through their group--the Change of Heart, come to report back its findings.

            Kaeru immediately muttered something in the Ancient tongue again, and the True Realmers, as one, turned to look at Kawari. The hikari, rolling his eyes a little, yet looking amused, set to translating. "He asked it if it spotted anything dangerous approaching."

            It didn't appear to have, however, because it shook its head, long hair fluttering behind it and wings shifting slightly with the movement. Satisfied, Kaeru nodded, speaking once more, and Kawari set about translating again.

            " 'Good. We are nearing the Temple now; monsters are not allowed on its sacred grounds, unfortunately. You may return to the card if you wish.' "

            The Change of Heart nodded quietly, looking quite serene. It gave another small, formal bow to Kaeru, and then turned, giving both Ryou and Kawari polite nods as well. As its gaze brushed over Bakura, however, it gave him a disdainful look, turned its head away, refused to politely acknowledge him, and vanished, returning to its card.

            Bakura looked extremely annoyed at the card's treatment towards him, but continued to cause trouble for his opposite by smirking a little. "You called a Change of Heart to _guard _you?" He laughed. "What are you, _weak?_ That's got to be the most pathetic thing I've heard yet, and _that's _setting aside your little attack hikari," he added, smirking as he glanced over at Kawari slightly.

            One of Kaeru's eyelids twitched, but he kept his temper remarkably well, considering he was _also _a Bakura. "I _am _protecting several mortals, in case you haven't noticed."

            "Tch, mortals. They're so annoying. Why don't you just let them all die and get it over with?"

            "_Bakura!_" Kaeru growled warningly, cracking several fingers as his hands clenched into fists. "You're digging your own grave, you fool. I won't be surprised when you get buried in it."

            Bakura chuckled. "But I'm too fast to get caught. I never die." His dark smirk added to these rather unnerving words, delivered so coldly that it sent shivers up the True Realm being's spines and even made Kawari raise an eyebrow in surprise.

            "Don't speak too soon," Kaeru shot back, glaring. Bakura only smirked.

            By this time, they had gotten closer to the Temple of Darkness, and speech was brought to a halt at the stunning structure in front of them. It was enormous, with wide sweeping steps at its front and large pillars supporting it, and (though they didn't know it) of the same structure as the Temple of Light. This temple, however, was not built of white marble, but rather, of marble colored with the deepest black they had ever seen. Indeed, it seemed to _absorb_ _light _from the Shadow Realm, making the surrounding area look much brighter in comparison to the stone of the temple, which was so dark the eyes kept slipping by it as if it was invisible--it was difficult to see. All of them had the strange feeling that they were looking at a black hole.

            "Well," Bakura said, smirking a little. "Here you are at your precious _temple. _What are you planning to do _now?_" He gave Kaeru a look, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

            "First," Kaeru hissed through gritted teeth, "I'm going to suggest you shut your mouth before somebody does it _for _you, preferably painfully." He gave his opposite a warning look, then continued, turning back to the others. "As for the rest of us, we'll go in and try to find that Scroll."

            "Someone desires the Scroll of Fate?"

            The group froze, even Bakura. With various amounts of surprise, six heads from the Scroll hunting party turned to look up at the top of the temple steps...where somebody was now standing.

            It was a man, looking somewhat elderly but still with an air of strength about him, as if he had once been powerful and still had some memory of it. His hair was pure white with age, very long and falling nearly to his feet, tied back in a simple ponytail to keep it out of the way; he also had a long white beard, though it fell considerably shorter than his hair did. His attire consisted of deep, flowing black robes, which contrasted sharply with his hair and beard but made the rest of him almost fade into the temple walls to fall unseen. His hands, hidden in the long folds of the arms of his robes, were folded calmly across his chest, and he looked quite peaceful simply standing there.

            The man spoke again, and his voice, though also sounding somewhat elderly, held that same hidden strength to it that the rest of his demeanor did. "A peaceful greeting, friends. I am glad to see your journey to the Temple was safe. I am Custos, Guardian of the Temple of Darkness, and also the assigned Guardian of the Scroll of Fate for nearly 6,000 years."

            Kaeru raised an eyebrow. "By Ra, you're even older than I am!"

            The man, Custos, smiled a little. "Yes, perhaps, but I shall most likely pass on soon, and there are very few mortals such as myself still left alive that can still claim they have outlived the Item spirits. Soon I shall rejoin my brother and allow a new Guardian to take my place, just as my nephew Kanshinin replaced the last Guardian of the Light Temple."

            Bakura snorted. "Tch, you, a _mortal?_ I'm surprised you lived past one hundred. Quite an achievement for mortals, I'm told."

            Custos turned his head slightly, frowning. "I am not sure how you were allowed to pass the barrier, but nothing can be done about it now. Please, keep peace. I cannot allow you to stay in my sanctuary if you wish to cause trouble."

            The True tomb robber snorted. "Is that supposed to be a threat?" he asked, rather sarcastically.

            "Yes," the man answered sadly, but there was a flicker of fire in his coal black eyes for a moment that suggested he had the power to back up what he said.

            Bakura was not stupid. He had seen that flame, and decided that it would be best to comply with the man's request for now. Scroll Guardians probably were not the _smartest _people to fight with.

            "So...you're the Scroll Guardian?" Ryou spoke up, looking curious.

            Custos turned his head back to face the other Scroll hunting members, who were separate from Bakura by about a foot or so. "Yes," he answered quietly, "I am."

            "But what happened to the weird voices?" Téa asked, confused. "Don't they usually guard the Scrolls?"

            "Usually, yes," Custos answered, nodding. "But they dislike the Shadow Realm, and they needed someone to protect the precious Scrolls for them. I was asked by the Guardians to protect the Scroll of Fate for them, and so I have done for 6,000 years."

            "Oh..." Téa frowned a little at the thought of guarding a Scroll for that long, but left the idea alone after a few minutes.

            "So," Kawari said casually, "since _you're _the Guardian here, does that mean _you're _presenting the Challenge instead of the other Guardians?"

            The elderly man nodded. "Yes, quite correct," he answered. "I shall present you with a Challenge I deem suitable, and if you pass, I shall allow you to claim the Scroll of Fate as your own. Of course," he added, looking a little sad, "I am by no means at the level of the _true _Guardians, so I will not be able to present you with Challenges in another Realm or dimension, but...I will do my best."

            "S'okay," Tristen said, grinning a little. "Those were getting a little old, anyway."

            Custos smiled slightly, looking more cheered up thanks to Tristen's words. "Most of you have good hearts," he said, eyeing them all. "I do hope you pass my Challenge. You all seem worthy enough. Even you," he added, nodding at Kaeru, who blinked slightly, "because I can sense that you and _him_," (this was directed at Bakura) "are related somehow, yet you are completely different. Opposites, I presume." Kaeru nodded, while Bakura looked angry.

            "So how many people need to be in this Challenge?" Kawari asked, looking ready for anything.

            "Three," Custos answered calmly, smiling a little at Kawari's eagerness. Chuckling a little, he eyed the hikari and his yami, asking, "You two are from the Negative, aren't you?" At their surprised nods, the elder man closed his eyes, nodding slightly with the smile still on his face. "Yes, I traveled to that Realm once, _several _millennia ago...you were probably still unawakened in the Ring," he added, for Kaeru's benefit. "It has always been a troubled Realm, but the people there are very distinguished...most of the notable figures in that Realm are stubborn and dislike giving up. I suppose that is the trait of your Realm, would you agree?"

            Kawari blinked. "Er..."

            Custos shook his head. "Never mind...I can see it in the two of you, but it doesn't matter. You probably do not know of the complex web of Realms and traits yet. That is fine. Most beings are not meant to know of Realms at all, and those that do understand little more than the Balance." He smiled, as if he were a grandfather telling his grandchildren stories, and then continued. "I shall continue with your Challenge instead. Your quest interests me, so...I believe I shall give a Challenge that takes the strongest talents of the Challengers and put them on trial. You shall face against an opponent to see if you can defeat them while proving your true strengths. Three wins total are required, so all three Challengers must win their respective battles to take hold of the Scroll. Does this seem fair?"

            The Scroll hunters nodded, with the exception of Bakura, who just looked bored.

            "Very well, then. Follow me to the inner chambers, if you please." The elder man turned and glided softly into the dark interior of the temple, the others heading hastily up the steps to keep up with him.

            When they entered the Temple, it was almost impossible to see due to the incredible darkness of the marble. Its seemingly light-absorbing abilities were now feeding off the flickering light coming from Kawari's Millennium Ring, which was glowing slightly as it supported the shields for the mortals. Yet, in the middle of the room, on a pedestal equally as dark and as hard to see, sat a simple, innocent-looking Scroll, the purpose for their travels. It shined as well with a soft, steady light, yet that light was not absorbed by the Temple, but rather it was allowed to shine brightly, acting as a beacon to call them forth towards it.

            Custos halted next to the Scroll, white hair and beard standing out clearly in the dark and gloom. "Here," he said quietly, "is the prize you desire. Now. May I ask the three Challengers to stand forward so that I may choose the problems they shall face?"

            The group hesitated a moment, before Téa spoke up. "I haven't done anything yet," she said, moving forward a pace. "I need to help out somehow. I'll be in this Challenge!"

            Ryou agreed. "Téa's right. I haven't done much either other than solve riddles...I'll join, too." And he, too, stepped forward.

            Kawari and Kaeru exchanged looks. "One of us is going to be the Negative Challenger for this," the hikari pointed out.

            The tomb robber nodded. "And I think I should enter."

            "No way!" Kawari protested, shaking his head. "For one thing, you've been in more Challenges than I have, and I need a chance to catch up to you. And for another thing, you still have to sustain those shields for everybody so the Shadow Realm doesn't eat at their minds. You can't do that _and _participate in a Challenge."

            "I've only been in _one _more Challenge than you," Kaeru muttered. "But your second point...that makes more sense." He gave an annoyed sigh, then nodded. "Okay. You're in."

            Kawari grinned. "Perfect! This oughta be fun..." he stepped forward to join Ryou and Téa, crossing his arms in an expression of readiness. "Okay, everybody's ready...Custos, was it? So let's go!"

            The Guardian nodded quietly, smiling slightly at the eagerness of the three Challengers. "Very well. For each individual there shall be a separate, smaller Challenge. One will lead to the next, so keeping with the team is essential, whether it happens to be your particular Challenge or not." At this, he stopped, pointing at Ryou. "_You,_" he said quietly, "will take the Challenge of Intellect. _He_--" he pointed at Kawari for this, "will follow with the Challenge of Endurance, and she--" he pointed, last, at Téa, "will finish with the Challenge of Grace." He glanced around at the three again, and then said softly, "If there are no questions, the Challenge will begin."

            None of them spoke up, so Custos nodded softly and drew his hands from his long robes, holding them together and looking as though he was praying. Closing his eyes, he concentrated momentarily, and the Temple around them began to swirl, buck and shift, changing from its sacred shape to create something...else. After perhaps two minutes had passed, it had finished, leaving the group standing at the foot of a very large, dark..._maze._

            "The Challenge of Intellect begins," he said softly, gazing at Ryou and nodding. "You must find the way through the maze, and lead your comrades to the next Challenge, the Challenge of Endurance." Ryou nodded, taking a step forwards towards the entrance, but Custos threw out a hand to keep him from moving, smiling a little. "Hold on...you have not met your opponent yet."

            "Opponent?" the hikari asked, blinking slightly. "Oh, that's right...you did mention facing off against an opponent, didn't you?"

            Custos nodded quietly again. "And here she is," he said softly, waving one hand behind him to indicate the figure moving towards them.

            Ryou blinked in surprise...it was a _duel monster._ It looked like a woman, wearing a crisp, neat business suit and with short, black cropped hair. Red-framed glasses were perched precariously on the tip of her nose, and she kept pushing them back up onto her face with an air of being in control, reminding them all vaguely of a lawyer or nerd. She clutched a leather-bound book in her arms carefully, as if waiting to nail them with rules and regulations that they had broken to get them into trouble. But that wasn't the strangest part; she had a pair of snowy white wings producing from her shoulder blades, though they were currently folded and not doing anything in particular. Téa thought she had seen the monster once in Yami and Joey's duel against the Big Five; a Hysteric Fairy, she thought it was called.

            The Fairy walked up to them curtly, not speaking but giving Ryou a snooty look that suggested she was just _dying _to defeat him in this little Challenge, and then maybe if she was lucky get them arrested after that. She pushed her glasses up her nose once more, then took up a place near Ryou, as if waiting at the starting line for the Challenge.

            Custos chuckled a little. "The Hysteric Fairy is your first opponent. The others will be met when you reach the next Challenges. You must get to the end of the maze before she does. You may begin when we have left your field of vision." He turned to Kaeru, Tristen, and Bakura (who was still idly hanging around, waiting for another chance to cause some trouble) and spoke calmly. "You three will follow me...I will take us to an area where we can watch the whole Challenge and observe, but not get in the way. Come." And he strode off, the others following with only Kaeru giving a glance over his shoulder at his aibou.

            As soon as they were out of sight, the Hysteric Fairy gave a small yell of triumph and shot for the maze's entrance, disappearing into its dark, mysterious depths in seconds. Ryou, surprised at its speed, hastily whirled to face the others, yelling, "Come on!" before dashing for the entrance as well.

            Téa started for the opening into the maze as well, trusting that Kawari was behind her and suspecting that he would actually pass her within a few seconds; he _was _much faster, after all. But when he didn't shoot by her after several seconds had passed, and she was nearly _at _the maze, she stopped, looking confused, and turned around to see what had happened.

            Kawari hadn't moved.

            "Kawari!" she yelled, surprised. "Come _on!_ We have to beat that fairy thing!"

            The Negative gave her a look, opened his mouth, and to her surprise answered, "I'm not going in there."

            "_What?!_" she yelped, surprised. "Kawari, are you _crazy?_ This is a Challenge!"

            Ryou, by this time, had heard the commotion and returned, looking worried. "What's wrong?"

            "Kawari's saying he's not going in the maze. But it's a joke, right?" Téa hastened to add, giving the opposite Light a questioning look.

            "I'm dead serious. I'm not going in there."

            Ryou looked confused. "But...Kawari...it's part of the Challenge! We have to go through there or we'll lose the Scroll of Fate!"

            But Kawari only shook his head firmly, looking not the slightest bit as if he cared.

            The True hikari was getting a little antsy now, glancing over his shoulder repeatedly towards the maze, as if hoping he would somehow be able to spot the Hysteric Fairy's progress. "Okay...okay....you don't want to go in there. Why not?" Maybe they could find a solution to the problem if they figured out what the problem really _was..._

            "It's a _maze,_" Kawari answered flatly, glancing at it's entrance somewhat nervously. "A _maze._ You can't get out of them, we're just gonna get _lost_ in it. No _way _I'm putting myself in there."

            Ryou perked up a little; maybe there _was _a way he could get his opposite into the maze after all. "But that's where I come in, see? I'm supposed to find our way out! _I _can make sure we don't get lost in there!"

            Kawari gave a rather sarcastic laugh. "Good luck with that," he said dryly. "We didn't seem to do very well with that last time, now did we?"

            "What?" Ryou's brow furrowed in confusion. Kawari just shook his head, as if waving away his last statement.

            "I'm just not going in there, that's all."

            "Come on, Kawari!" Téa broke in, shifting back and forth from foot to foot in nervous excitement as she spoke. "Don't you trust us? We won't get lost if we work as a team! And Ryou can get us through it, he's smart and Custos wouldn't have given him this Challenge if he couldn't do it!"

            A slight twitch on the Negative's part. "I..."

            Ryou could see Téa was starting to convince him, so he added hastily, "plus, we _need _that Scroll to help us with the Shadow Realm, and we can't get through this Challenge without a Negative, remember?"

            Kawari looked vaguely as if he would have liked to shoot himself by this point, but finally nodded, expression rather grim. "Fine. Fine, I'll go in. I just hope to Ra I get back out..."

                        ()                      ()                      ()                      ()                      ()

            Bakura, Kaeru, and Tristen had watched the whole dilemma from an elevated section of the Shadow Realm, lifted high enough so that they could see the entire layout of the maze in order to watch the Challengers' progress through it. They hadn't bothered to ask Custos how he had managed to elevate the area to its particular height at the moment; he obviously had very strong control over the Shadow Realm, and probably had more abilities at his control because of it. Bending the fabric of the Shadow Realm most likely seemed like a piece of cake to him.

            Though they hadn't been able to hear the conversation going on below, the gist of the problem had become rather clear to the watchers, who were currently debating it.

            "Your _hikari _is scared of _mazes?!_" Bakura asked, laughter bursting forth in dark waves from his lips as he spoke. "_Mazes?!_ Is he that much of a coward?!" He shook with more laughter, adding afterwards, "Tch, I'm amazed he beat me, if he is so easily frightened!"

            Kaeru gave him a murderous glare, saying in a low, dangerous snarl, "He has his reasons."

            Bakura burst into another fit of laughter. "What, did he get lost in one as a kid? Is he _scarred for life?_" The last sentence was delivered mockingly, with the spirit smirking at his opposite as he spoke.

            "I don't think it's worth it to grace you with an answer," Kaeru snapped back, looking decidedly annoyed. _Why _did the first portion of this Challenge have to be in a _maze?_ Kawari never did well with them of late, since he had escaped the Labyrinth in his own mind...

            "Come on, Kawari," he muttered under his breath, so low that not even Custos heard him. "You can make it through...you'll be fine."

            He only hoped that his words would be true.

                        ()                      ()                      ()                      ()                      ()

            As soon as the three Challengers had taken their first step into the maze, Kawari had given a deep shiver, as though he was being condemned to the gallows and could find no way to escape his punishment. It seemed that it was only his war training and discipline that was making him put up with going through the twisting collection of passages, and he was obviously trying his hardest to not hinder the other two, but he wasn't hiding it as well as he probably would have liked.

            Ryou was positively bewildered. He had not yet seen his opposite acting this way, and it was definitely a new side to the Negative. Until now, all he had seen was a confident, skilled hikari that seemed to be able to walk through most situations without the bat of an eyelid, but now...it was as if nearly all of that personality had disappeared. Though Kawari was trying not to show it, Ryou could see all too well the signs that showed he feared his surroundings; the slightly faster pace of his breathing, the wary way he kept glancing about the walls, as if they would attack him, the unsteady step that suggested he was a little nervous about moving forward. And even if the opposite had been able to hide those signs, the thought link connected to Ryou was enough evidence to make him quite certain the other version of himself was afraid, with muttering wisps of thoughts passing through here and there just long enough for him to register what they had said.

            Ryou could also sense, however, that his opposite was not in the mood to talk about his situation, and he didn't want to frustrate his Negative by pressing him. When Kawari wanted to talk, he would, Ryou was sure of it, just as much as he was sure that his opposite knew he was available to listen.

            So instead he concentrated on navigating the maze, knowing the best way to calm Kawari down would be to get him away from the thing he feared.

            Entering at a quick trot, the three of them headed down a seemingly straight corridor for several minutes, until they eventually came to the first break in the maze--two junctions, one moving off to the right while the other cut left.

            "Which way?" Téa asked curiously, coming to a stop next to Ryou, who was in the lead--Kawari was lagging a few paces behind.

            "Um..." the True hikari considered momentarily, trying to call up his knowledge--it _was _a Challenge of Intellect, after all. He thought he'd read about maze strategies before, and how keeping your hand on the left wall would eventually lead you to the exit. He wasn't sure he trusted it entirely, but it was their best bet for the moment. "We'll go left."

            Téa nodded, entirely trusting his judgment, and took off down the left corridor, knowing the boys would catch up in a few minutes. _Shouldn't have worn heels for this,_ she thought to herself dryly, grimacing a little. _I always have the _worst _luck with shoes..._[2]

            Ryou pounded after her, turning over his shoulder to shout to his opposite. "Come on, Kawari! We'll get out of here in a snap, don't worry!"

            His opposite simply grimaced, eyeing the new corridor warily. Licking his lips, he looked over his shoulder momentarily, at where he _knew _for certain a way out was, before muttering something under his breath rather shakily and forcing himself into a jog, following the others.

            They ran for a few minutes, Kawari always lagging behind by a few feet, until they hit another junction; without hesitation Ryou chose left again, keeping with his basic strategy for the moment until a better one came along. The other two followed, Téa completely trusting and Kawari just praying that they would not get lost in the labyrinth they had entered. Two more junctions came and went, with Ryou continuously choosing left, trusting the strategy more and more as it kept them away from dead ends. The twisting and turning around corners and through breaks and passages in the maze was endless, yet the True hikari thought the Challenge was going _pretty _well so far...

            Kawari, however, had been continuously falling into a worse state. The deeper into the maze they went, the more his fear became obvious, though he was still trying to the best of his ability to hide it, although by now 'the best' wasn't much. By now, a slight trembling had taken hold of him, although with his heavy clothing and jacket it was hard to notice without a practiced eye; his breathing had gotten a little faster than it had been before, when they had entered the maze, and he continued to look increasingly wary. More often than not, his gloved hand hovered near the hidden sheath of _Gin Hebi, _and his fingers twitched continuously, as if he was desperate to use the weapon against his fear but could find nothing material to use it against. And, both Ryou and Téa had noted with confused interest, the Negative had a habit of stretching out his hand in front of him and swiping at the air as they went around corners or through particularly long passageways, as though he was testing it for something invisible lying in wait, ready to snare him.

            The actions still confused Ryou, though he continued to let his Negative keep his silence on the subject, respecting that the opposite wanted to keep it a secret. Téa, though, was sure that Yugi had mentioned something like this when he was telling her and the rest of the gang about the Negative Realm several months before; something about Kawari having been lost in a maze for a long time, and how Yugi had to rescue him, or something...she couldn't really remember, now, she hadn't been paying as much attention at the time, worrying about Yugi...well, whatever it was, she remembered that he had good reason for acting like this...

            About twenty minutes of maze-traveling had passed when Ryou spoke, attempting to calm his opposite, whose signs of fright had not lessened any. "See?" he questioned, giving a cheerful grin in the hopes of spreading a better mood, "We're really doing fine, we're _cruising _through here! We'll be out in no time!"

            "It can't be this easy," Kawari answered softly, glancing about at the stone walls that rose several feet above them to expose the 'sky' of the Shadow Realm above. "They're never this easy...they like to trick you..."

            "Kawari, don't worry, we'll be fine. Custos wouldn't put us in here if it wasn't safe, right? And anyway, I think we can make it through here just fine." Ryou grinned again and then led the others at a run around the next corner.

            And stopped dead.

            There were four passages leading off in different branches now, not the two that they had been previously accustomed to. Ryou's strategy of choosing left was dead, now--there were _two _lefts to choose from, not one.

            "Told you..." Kawari hissed quietly, taking a step back from the four corridors nervously.

            "No problem," Ryou answered, attempting to be optimistic. "We can do this, it's not impossible." He considered for a moment, but could recall no strategy for just such an occasion, and finally shrugged, sighing a little. "It'll take some valuable time, but...we could probably just guess a corridor and see where it leads. If it doesn't work we can always come back and--"

            "No!" the Negative Ryou yelled, grasping his True self's arm in a surprisingly strong, almost painful, grip. The True hikari winced, but Kawari went right on talking, wide-eyed with worry and fear. "You can't just _choose _one! That's how you get lost! It plays with your head that way!" He looked slightly panicked, and his grip tightened in his worry.

            "Okay!" Ryou said hastily, pulling Kawari's hand free of his arm. "We won't guess...but how are we going to do this, then?" He glanced down at the stone maze ground, thinking idly...and blinked in surprise at the designs carved into the stone between the weathered lines and cracks.

            Startled, he bent down to take a better look at them, blinking at what he saw. Four stars in a row, with a line standing vertically on the row's right side; in addition, there was a single star below the first four, with a vertical line of the same size on the left.

            Téa bent down to look at the stars as well, rather surprised, while Kawari remained standing and watching the four corridors as though something was hiding in them. "What are those?" she asked curiously, blinking.

            "I'm guessing it's a clue or sign as to which way we're supposed to go," Ryou answered, studying the stars carefully. After a moment he stood up, heading for the farthest corridor on the right. "Let's go, hurry!"

            "Are you sure?" Kawari hissed softly, feet planted firmly for the moment.

            "Yeah, see," Ryou explained hastily. "The stars represent corridors, see? The top row has four stars and a line on the right--so the fourth corridor to the right is the one they're indicating. The bottom star has a line to the left, so it's the first corridor moving left. Both are the same corridor, _that _one." He pointed at the door he had chosen, then gently tugged on Kawari's jacket sleeve to get him moving. "Come on, let's go, we need to beat that fairy!"

            The Negative hesitated for a moment, and then slowly nodded, pushing himself forward to get moving once more. "Right...lead the way."

            The three of them dashed down the new corridor, passing the stone walls by in a whirlwind but always met by endless more. This particular corridor turned and twisted for some time before leading them to their next junction, a break of three corridors this time. Ryou, after finding another clue carved into the stonework, made his next choice and led them down the middle corridor, pushing them onward through the maze.

            The travel was endless. The corridors and passageways never seemed to end, and the dark, dreary coloring and deep shadows cast by the Realm they were in were beginning to make the Challengers feel slightly disturbed. None more so than Kawari, though, for the longer they stayed in that fast-becoming-hellish maze, the further he fell into his panicked, scared state, muttering under his breath that they were never going to get out of the labyrinth now and that they had lost.

            Several times, Ryou misinterpreted the clues that were given, sending them in the wrong directions and leading them to dead ends. At this point, he would hastily backtrack, leading them back to the original junction so that he could try to figure out what he had done wrong. Téa would usually encourage him when this happened, urging him to do his best to figure out the problem. Kawari, on the other hand, would more often than not be caught in a state where he was obviously trying to keep himself from doing anything rash due to his panic (Ryou once saw his opposite's lip bleeding from where he had bitten it in an attempt to calm himself down after the third time they had gone in the wrong direction).

            Worse, the labyrinth was not always silent. They were used to the echoing sounds their own footfalls made in the maze, but it had come as a shock to all three of them (particularly Kawari) to hear, at one point, something snarling on the other side of the wall they had been near. After calming themselves down after the heart-stopping surprise, they had realized that this was none other than the Hysteric Fairy, who had most likely reached a dead end as well and was furious because of it. Several other times they had heard the monster during their travels, as well; sometimes faintly, as if it was far away, sometimes close by as if it was only a wall away, but all times it had sounded almost as frustrated as they were.

            Despite the wrong turns and startling noises, however, they were making progress. Ryou was a very effective leader through the maze, making careful decisions and never allowing impatience or nervousness to take control. He was also quite good at calming his opposite down when Kawari looked particularly nervous, keeping the Negative going through the maze despite his fears, and it was because of these combined skills that they had gotten so far.

            Eventually, the three of them turned a corner at a run and found themselves facing a gigantic, rounded chamber, which had four corridors (including the one they had just exited) leading off from it's circular sides. Startled, Ryou came to a halt, the others following suit next to him.

            "See any clues?" The True Realm being asked, looking around hurriedly. "We won't be able to make a correct choice without one, there are three doors left and--"

            Before another word could leave his mouth, something erupted from the passageway to their left, causing all three of them to flinch or jump in surprise. The something, halting nearby them for a minute, turned out to be the Hysteric Fairy, which was standing with its book clutched tightly in its white-knuckled grip and wings spread wildly, feathers disarrayed.

            The Fairy gave the three of them a disdainful glance, which covered up its momentary look of surprise as it realized they were just as far as it was, even with its head start. Scowling, it gave an annoyed hiss, and then suddenly shot forward, passing them and pelting down the right-hand corridor ahead of them on the other side of the circular chamber.

            Ryou started in surprise at the Fairy's actions, but only momentarily; with a determined yell, he called, "Come on!" and darted for the left-hand corridor that the Fairy had not taken.

            "What?" Téa yelped in confusion, though she pushed to a run again. "Why? What happened to the clues?"

            "There's no time for it anymore!" Ryou called back, entering the corridor as he spoke. "I have a feeling we're close to the end, so much that I almost _know _we're nearly there. If we waste time anymore, that Fairy'll beat us!"

            Kawari had not moved at first, nervous at the idea of simply _guessing _in order to choose what direction to go in, but when Ryou mentioned he thought they were close to the end, all his doubts vanished. He was running after the others in seconds, catching up quickly, nervous of being left behind when they were hopefully so close to their goal.

            They pelted down the corridor at high speeds, twisting, turning, going so fast they were afraid they would not be able to slow down in time to cut around corners and would crash dangerously into the walls. Kawari's endurance really came into play now as he strove to escape the labyrinth he hated so much, and he was actually a few paces ahead of the others, moving with agility but with the grace he had had earlier missing due to his fear.

            After several minutes of running, they heard an angry screech behind them, belonging without question to the Hysteric Fairy that they had left behind. Ryou was almost positive the corridor it had chosen had come to a dead end, or it wouldn't be so angry--which meant the corridor _they _were currently traveling in was the correct exit out.      And at last, they pulled around a final corner, staring with victorious excitement at the final, straight stretch awaiting them, with the empty darkness of the Shadow Realm swirling beyond the walls of the maze. Pouring on the last of their speed, the three of them shot forward, sliding across the line chiseled in the stonework of the ground that evidently marked the end of the maze race, and the Challenge of Intellect.

            "We beat the first one!" Téa said excitedly, slowing down a little as they crossed the line--running in heels for an extended period of time tended to hurt a little. "And all thanks to you, Ryou!"

            The True hikari smiled a little at his accomplishment. "Yeah...I'm glad I could get us through. Well, there's one of the three miniature Challenges done, at any rate."

            The Hysteric Fairy came suddenly rushing out behind them, wings wide as it used them to push itself even faster down the maze. Seeing the others already across the 'finish line,' it came to an abrupt halt, folding its messy wings and sneering at them angrily. The Challengers had expected this, but it was when it _spoke _that surprised them.

            "You win the first Challenge," it said, looking irritable, in clean Japanese that held a bit of an accent. "But wait until my comrade deals with your friend...you will lose _then..._" and it smirked, pushing its glasses up its nose once more, giving them furious looks.

            Téa and Ryou exchanged looks, frowning a little as they contemplated this new piece of news. Kawari's Challenge was next, then...would he be up to it? Turning, the two of them glanced down towards the exit to the maze, blinking a little at what they saw.

            Kawari had not stopped running when he had crossed the 'finish line;' although the Challenge had been won, the marking point was still within the walls of the maze, and the Negative hikari wanted _out _more badly than anything else at the moment. He had gone dashing at high speed for the exit, determined to reach the open, 'safe' airs of the Shadow Realm, just so he could be free of the trap that he had been stuck in...but someone, or more appropriately some_thing,_ had blocked his exit, a something that was very large and dangerous-looking.

            All of the Challengers were absolutely disgusted at what they saw. A rotting, skeletal body stood before them, the skin and muscle that managed to stretch over the bones old, dirty, and tainted green with the color of decomposing flesh. Wide, ghastly eyes stared down from the face, and a mouthful of twisted, discolored teeth was bared at them, giving the face an altogether skull-like look with a grim, nasty grin and atrocious features. The creature was garbed in what once had to have been fancy, respectable clothing, but by now it was so worm-eaten and torn that it was almost impossible to recognize it for what it was. In its right hand it held a long European blade, with a wide, golden, fancy bellguard and old, dark bloodstains splashed on both the hilt and the blade. The creature stood seven, nearly eight feet tall, standing several feet over both Ryou's and Téa, and it looked _extremely _murderous. Kawari and Ryou recognized the creature well, as it was from their own decks, while Téa, who had never seen it before, simply looked disgusted with its rotting appearance.

            "The Earl of Demise," Ryou whispered softly, staring awestruck at the fearsome monster.

            The creature gave a positively ghastly grin, raising its blade slowly to point in Kawari's direction, though that was its only movement--it still stood casually otherwise, and looked as if it was only indicating one of the three Challengers. Slowly, its decaying mouth opened, and it spoke in a raspy, cracking voice, as though it had long been in disuse and it had forgotten how to use words.

            "A battle," it hissed softly, glaring at Kawari with unblinking eyes. "Our Challenge awaitssss...." the last word ended in a hiss, and it looked positively eager to kill.

            Kawari, in response, gave a glance at the walls still rising above him, and then at the monster. He still looked slightly nervous, as if the walls were somehow signifying his doom, but he managed to respond, taking a step forward. "Fine...outside."

            "No." Smiling darkly, the Earl slipped sideways to block Kawari's exit, still pointing the long blade at him. "Here. Now."

            The Negative gave a slight twitch, still not really focusing on the fight as much as the fact that he wanted to get _out _of that maze. "Look, I don't know what your problem is, but I'm not fighting you in h--"

            The Earl growled in response, a low, hissing sound, and slashed out suddenly with its blade, forcing the hikari to leap backwards in surprise with well-toned reflexes. It did not speak again, but instead lowered itself into a stance, the blade held out before it, ready to stab deep into its opponent's heart at a moment's notice.

            Kawari took a minute to gather his footing, and then glared across at the Earl, shifting a little. "Fine," he snapped, his anger, for the moment, replacing his slowly-disappearing fear. "We fight now. But you've made a _big _mistake here...because you _don't _want to get in the way of me and my exit!" So saying, _Gin Hebi _was out in a flash, and he dived forward, charging the Earl in a sudden move.

            The creature was ready. It brought its long blade around to parry Kawari's short one, and the two were very suddenly engaged in several rounds of attacking and parrying, each trying to gain just enough control in the battle to effectively wound and drive back their opponent. The movements of the blades were a blur, just silver streaks flashing one after another, connecting with sudden loud _clangs _only to pull back and flash once more in another attack. Ryou and Téa could not follow the paths of the two weapons, but apparently the two battlers could, and were keeping up with each other perfectly, matching each other move for move.

            At last, the two rather suddenly parted in an explosion of movement and speed, the Earl leaping back while Kawari skidded out, bringing his left, non-gloved hand down to the shadowy not-quite-ground to steady his balance. Both combatants glared at each other, and Kawari slowly rose to his feet from his crouch, blade at the ready.

            The Earl was strong, he had discovered that very quickly in his first round with the creature. It took him nearly all his strength to successfully parry one swing from the long blade, and if he kept with the head-on assault too long, he would wear out before the creature did. But he had also noticed its weakness; the long blade and its particular style left it many weak spots, if he could only get around the blade long enough. As soon as he passed by the front half of the monster's sword, it would have so many blind spots that Kawari would be able to sink _Gin Hebi _into its rotted flesh fifteen times over before it could react.

            Deciding on his plan, he darted forward once more, bringing his dirk up for the beginnings of what looked like a frontal assault. The creature smirked, bringing its blade down to parry Kawari's and possibly cut into his skin, but the hikari, in a burst of speed and strength, knocked it aside to the right, away from himself, and darted to the Earl's left, hoping to get around his range before it had time to bring the blade back.

            It would have succeeded very well, the battle ending in seconds, but Kawari saw too late the flaw in his plan--and skidded to a halt, second before crashing into one of the walls in the maze. The Earl gave a dark smirk, having already realized that this would happen, and brought the blade swinging around suddenly, stabbing into the wall towards the hikari's torso as if trying to spear him there.

            The Negative dodged to the side and avoided being pierced through, but not without being injured slightly; the sword sliced his side and grazed his ribs, and though the wound was shallow, it hurt considerably. He gave a small hiss of pain and leapt back out of the creature's range, pressing his free hand to his side momentarily to check the damage--he could make it through the fight, but he knew he had to be carefully or he could hurt himself more in the process.

            He couldn't help but swear, though. Damn that Earl! He knew why it had kept him in the maze to fight, now...without a wide area to move in, Kawari's major skill in battle--agility--had become virtually useless. And in addition, he was now at the mercy of the Earl's surprising strength--all factors that did not bode well for the hikari.

            The Earl gave a soft, grating burst of laughter, bringing its rapier around to lunge rather suddenly, blade point stabbing outward with the hopes of burying into Kawari's chest. The Light leapt back in surprise, a feat easy enough to manage for the moment--he was still relatively out of the creature's range, but he wouldn't be for long.

            The creature, apparently, _also _knew this. Smirking, it took three large steps forward, its long legs carrying it far and bringing it within close range of Kawari--a range that the shorter being would not be able to dodge out of, should there be an attack, as the blade was too long.

            With another vicious lunge, the Earl shot its blade forward to skewer its opponent once again, its evil, skull like smirk twisted into a malevolent grin. Kawari knew he could not dodge this one and instead moved to protect himself, _Gin Hebi _flashing up instantly; grasping the hilt in his gloved hand, he held the blade out horizontally, using his left, non-gloved hand to support the blade edge and using it as a shield. The rapier point crashed with a screech into the stout, defensive dirk blade, the momentum and strength behind it so great that it actually forced the defender to skid back a few inches on his feet, despite putting his full force into the protection maneuver. The double-edged dirk blade cut into his left palm slightly, causing tiny rivers of blood to drip off his hand to the dark ground below, but it was well worth it--his defense worked, keeping him from being ruthlessly run through with the Earl's rapier.

            Still smirking, the Earl recovered and lunged again, hoping to either drive back, wear out, or somehow pierce Kawari. Again the rapier point came into contact with the dirk; this time, however, the blade glanced off the edge and continued sliding forward, finishing off the momentum put behind it and slicing the hikari's arm painfully in the process. The blade, being extremely long, razored along the side of his left limb and continued cutting, going deep. The Negative gave a slight gasp of pain and hastily pushed the blade away with his own dirk before it could do any more damage.

            A harsh laugh came from the zombie-like creature standing several heads over him, and all at once its strategy seemed chosen. With furious speed and strength it lunged again and again, its berserker-like attack meant purely to overpower its opponent, wear him down, and throw him into the ground. Kawari battled with all his skill, parrying, defending, and moving when he could, but the creature was simply too strong, and every defensive maneuver he managed to pull off cost him dearly in strength and endurance. His left hand was starting to go numb from the consistent battering it was getting, supporting the blade in his defensive stances, and it was beginning to bleed more heavily as well. And he wasn't escaping the attacks without harm, either; more often than not, the rapier would glance off his own blade as it had before, slicing into his skin, and while none of the hits were vital--usually it was just the blade slashing open a surface wound--most of them were _extremely _painful, and all of them were bleeding regularly. If these conditions kept up, he was going to wear out or pass out soon.

            Behind him, the others appeared to see this as well. Téa and Ryou had stayed put by the finish line in order to give Kawari enough fighting room, but they could see all too well the toll the fight was taking in their Negative friend, regardless of how little they could follow the battle itself. Worried, Téa turned to her friend, asking nervously, "Do you think he can do it? He looks like he's in a bad spot..."

            Ryou didn't hesitate in his answer, trusting his opposite entirely. "Of course he can! Did you _see _how he took out my yami? This Earl should be a piece of cake! He just needs to figure out the secret to beating it, that's all." He sounded extremely confident, a tone added to his usually soft voice that made him seem a lot different than he actually was, for the moment...almost like his opposite.

            "If you say so..." the girl bit her lip, turning back to watch the fight, still looking worried.

            Kawari was still not doing so well. He had taken a few more wounds, and was still trying to defend, but he was being slowly driven back and worn down at the same time. As the Earl made another lunge, he swung _Gin Hebi, _trying to parry, and noted with dismay that he hardly sent the rapier off course before it came back to slice at his arm again. His strength was rapidly dwindling, what little he had to use against this monster.

            Another rapid lunge, and the hikari threw himself to the side quickly to dodge, not having gained enough strength back so quickly in order to defend against it. His speed, he soon noted, had dwindled as well, as he only barely made it away from the blade in time and felt it slicing at his coat sleeve vaguely. _Shit..._and not only that, but he was _far _too close to the wall for his liking...

            The Earl gave another harsh cackle, twisting its rapier so that the blade edge was facing towards Kawari, and without even a moment's pause swung the weapon in a wide arc, lowering it slightly and not even bothering to recover the blade before it did so. At its new, present level, the rapier was on a direct course for the hikari's legs, with the creature's obvious intent of cutting the limbs out from underneath him, or damaging them, so that there would no longer be any running or dodging.

            The Negative wasn't about to let this move defeat him, however, and while tired he was not completely worn out yet. He leapt, stretching out one leg to push off against the wall and rebound to give himself more air. Hanging suspended momentarily in the middle of the atmosphere of the Shadow Realm, he saw the rapier slash by underneath him, like some hideous game of jump rope gone wrong. Snarling, the Earl withdrew its blade, even as Kawari hit the ground, stumbling a little in his recovery due to his fatigue and clawing at the ground with his numb left hand to slow himself down as he crouched.

            Pulling himself to his feet quickly, Kawari panted rather heavily, chest heaving in its own separate battle to take in air while the hikari fought. He automatically fell into a fighting stance once more as the Earl readied its blade and loomed over him, but his left hand unconsciously curled around the leather cord of his Millennium Ring as it often did while in battle--usually checking to make sure he hadn't lost it. As the numbed hand touched against the cool metal of the Ring, some of the Negative's senses seemed to be restored to him, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

            _What the _hell _am I doing?_ He thought to himself angrily, standing a little straighter, hand still curled around the Ring tightly, as if it was reassuring him somehow. _Defending? _Constantly?_ No way an Opposition agent is taken down so easily like this. And _me _of all people!_ His gloved hand tightened around _Gin Hebi's _hilt, as if he was getting ready to _really _use it. _That's it,_ _this thing's about to get more than it bargained for. _

            With a yell, the Negative charged forward suddenly, taking the offensive before the creature had a chance to lunge. It seemed genuinely startled at this sudden attack, actually taking a step back before it came to its senses and held its ground. Kawari didn't appear to care, but lashed out with _Gin Hebi _for all he was worth, battering at the rapier with such skill and speed it was almost impossible to understand where he had suddenly summoned it all from.        Despite his determination and ferocity, however, the attacks didn't appear to be doing much good. The Earl's blade was far too long, and it had too much strength, making it a simple task to parry the smaller hikari's weaker blows. Nevertheless, Kawari was far too stubborn to give up, and kept trying, though the likelihood that his plan was going to succeed was growing dimmer by the second.

            Eventually the Earl gave an irritated growl, finding this new game rather boring, and deciding to end it. As Kawari moved to attack him again, it lashed out randomly with the rapier, hitting the Negative with the flat of the blade and causing him to stagger back in surprise and pain, the blow much too strong for his body to take easily. He gasped momentarily, and then leapt forward with new determination, ignoring his pain for the moment as he full-out charged the Earl...just as the massive creature went into a lunge, blade aimed straight for the hikari's heart.

            Working on pure instinct, Kawari dropped suddenly to his knees to avoid the attack, momentum actually forcing him to skid a few inches forward on his knees while the rapier thrust out harmlessly over his head. For several seconds he felt disoriented, the sudden jolt of hitting the ground working into his fatigue, but then he pulled himself back together, realizing _exactly where _he was...inside the Earl's guard, where the creature had no room to swing at him and attack.

            He made his decision instantly. He knew all too well how the Earl would react to his next maneuver, how it was going to be _excruciatingly _painful, and how his worn-out body might not be able to take it with the same endurance that he would have had if he had been completely fresh...but he knew for a fact that he wasn't going to get another shot like this. _Damn, though, this is gonna hurt._

            Throwing himself forward suddenly, he raised to his feet, bringing _Gin Hebi _to the ready. The Earl, seeing all too quickly Kawari's intent, flipped his rapier so that the blade was pointing downwards, bringing it crashing down on its opponent in an attempt to defend. But Kawari had foreseen this, and moved aside just enough so that it did not split his head, but rather slammed home on his shoulder, digging through flesh painfully deep...and coming to a sudden stop on the heavily armored _bone _of the shoulder blade, no longer cutting into the hikari and effectively protecting him from crucial, possibly fatal wounds.

            The Negative heard somebody screaming in surprise and worry behind him--probably Téa, he thought vaguely--but cast it aside as he implemented the next part of his plan. He dashed forward the few feet remaining between himself and the Earl, ignoring as the rapier razored through his new wound, not having been removed from his shoulder yet and resulting in it further being cut open, biting his tongue to keep himself from crying out. _Disregard it...ignore it...you've got a job to do..._

                        Too late, the Earl pulled the blade from it's perch in its opponent's shoulder, trying to bring the rapier around to attack and defend itself. But now the length of the blade was a disadvantage, as it could not reach a target so close to its user without injuring the user itself. Kawari's plan had worked to perfection. __

Snarling slightly, a sound both expressing his pain and showing his anger, Kawari drew back _Gin Hebi _and plunged the blade forward. The reason for the blade's name soon became evident as, quick as the strike of a cobra, the silvery flash shot forward, burying itself in the abdomen of the Earl of Demise with a sickening, tearing noise.

            The Earl gave a wild screech and took a step backward, flailing the rapier in its hand uselessly, but Kawari wasn't finished and slashed out again, and again, tearing at the creature's abdominal cavity in a mad attempt to kill the undead. Each time he struck, the fiend gave another wild scream, retreating wildly, until it finally shrieked in harsh, cracking words, "Stop, stop, the Challenge is yours, yourssss!" To emphasize its point, it dropped the rapier to the ground, taking another step backwards and raising both gnarled, rotten hands to show its surrender.

            "Then step aside and let us _out!_' Kawari half snarled, half gasped, _Gin Hebi _still held in a tight grip. His entire left arm was throbbing now, courtesy of the attack on his left shoulder, but he ignored it for the moment.

            "Yesss, yesss!" The Earl hissed, slipping sideways and leaving enough room for the three Challengers to pass by, with room to spare. "Pass! The last of the small Challenges awaits!" It seemed eager to get rid of them.

            Kawari gave the creature one last glare, but it only retreated to stand next to the Hysteric Fairy, which had a sullen look on its face upon seeing the result of the battle. Sighing, he finally wiped his dirk off carefully, giving the blade his utmost attention for the moment, before sheathing it and clamping his right, gloved hand to his arm in hopes of relieving the pain a little.

            Ryou and Téa came running up seconds later, beaming as they congratulated him for his win. "Nice job!" Ryou exclaimed. "I was a little worried when it got you on the shoulder, but..." he eyed the wound a little, frowning at the red liquid spilling forth, and went silent.

            "I let him hit me," Kawari said, massaging his arm a little, now--the whole thing was rapidly going completely numb. "The shoulder is very heavily armored by bone...better than getting hit in the head." He grimaced a little. "Now can we get out of here?" he finished, giving the walls an angry look.

            "Hold on!" Téa said, staring at the Negative hikari as if he was crazy. "You're just going to walk right out of here with all those wounds? We should check you first!"

            "I'm _fine,_ let's just get _out _of here," Kawari hissed, whirling and moving for the exit to the maze as fast as he possibly could--which, at the moment, wasn't particularly fast.

            Téa blinked in surprise before heading after him, Ryou next to her. "Is it just me, or are _all _of these Negatives a little bit crazy?"

            Ryou just shrugged.

            It took them only a few minutes to free themselves from the maze, and that freedom had an interesting effect on Kawari. The hikari seemed a lot more relaxed once they had left, and although it took him several minutes to pull himself back together from his strange fear of mazes, he seemed to be rapidly coming back to his original, calm nature. Of course, he was also still _wounded, _which did somewhat take from the effect, and every time he took a step on the side of his slashed ribs, he winced a little. Téa finally stopped him after only a few steps and said quite firmly that she thought she and Ryou should look over his wounds before they went anywhere else, and this time he didn't argue, instead waiting patiently until his major injuries were bandaged to their satisfaction.

            Once his wounds were treated in the best possible way they could manage for the moment, they took a look around, wondering where exactly to go next. The maze loomed behind them on both sides, so after quick debate, the three decided to continue straight on forward, as if they had just left the exit and were moving straight ahead.

            After moving for only a few minutes (at a slower pace than previously used in the maze, courtesy of Kawari), Téa blinked in surprise and came to a rather sudden halt, pointing off in a direction somewhat to their right. "Look! Do you guys see that?"

            Ryou turned his head slightly, eyes flickering in search of what Téa was pointing out. "See what?"

            "That little flicker of light! See, there it is again!"

            "I see it," Kawari said after a moment's pause, narrowing his eyes slightly to try and better his vision while keeping his right hand still clamped firmly around his left arm--it was still numb, and they hadn't been able to do anything about that. "Hard to spot, though, it's moving fast."

            Ryou had caught sight of it as well after a few seconds, and blinked. "It's moving this way, isn't it?"

            "Hey, yeah!" Téa said suddenly. "You're right...is it that third challenge monster?"           "I hope so, I'm not much in the mood for fighting some random extra monster," Kawari said, somewhat dryly. "One's enough for the day."

            The flicker of light, whatever it was, was fast approaching them now and growing larger by the second. As it narrowed the distance between itself and the group of three, it began to gain shape, evidence of what it was clearer. It seemed almost transparent, and had the figure of a thin girl with long, blonde hair. It was obviously extremely pretty, even in the simple dress it wore [3], but what was most astounding was its wings. They were absolutely enormous, _far _larger than those of the Hysteric Fairy, spreading out wide on either side of it and producing from its shoulder blades, and each pump from the limbs sent it speeding forward...yet at the same time the whole appearance was positively graceful. To add to the effect, the entire creature glowed with a mysterious, gentle light, which trailed after it as it flew, only to be eaten up by the shadows behind it moments later. Téa thought she could recognize this one, unlike the Earl they had just seen....she was pretty sure this was a Soul of Purity and Light. She'd seen one in the Kame Game shop before when Joey had been looking for other cards.

            The Soul approached them quickly, and when it was within a few feet of them its wings began to backpedal, flapping wildly in front of itself in order to slow it down and bring it to a stop. The action was accomplished within a few seconds and the monster landed gracefully, nodding politely to the three Challengers.

            "Er..." Téa hesitated a moment, then stepped forward quietly. "Are you the third opponent that we have to face in this Challenge?"

            The Pure Soul nodded quietly, but did nothing else.

            "Um...so...." Téa blinked a little, then ventured to speak again. "So....what exactly are we supposed to do?"

            In reply, the Soul stretched out one long, elegant, pale arm and motioned for them to follow it, before turning and walking slowly away, large wings trailing after it. It still seemed graceful while walking, but the wings appeared to give it trouble, as it looked like they were extremely heavy (relatively, for a spirit anyway) and like they could force the creature to topple over backwards at any given moment.

            The girl watched it striding off for a few minutes before turning to her white-haired companions. "What do we do?" she asked, giving them each a somewhat confused look.

            "Follow it," Kawari said dryly, "What else?" Ryou, standing next to him, nodded. Téa shrugged and turned, trotting after the graceful creature with the other two following along at a slower pace behind.

            The Soul lead them for several minutes quietly, fluttering its transparent wings every few minutes as it moved, but staying perfectly silent the whole time. The absence of sound from the creature struck them after several minutes; even the swish of its dress as it moved was non-existent. Obviously, being a spirit had freed it from such rules, though even Ryou and Kawari--the two in their group more used to the supernatural--needed a few minutes to adjust to it.

            After a few minutes of walking, the three began to notice a big change in the Shadows around them; they seemed more restless, moving more often, whirling around them almost hungrily and chasing each other in spinning circles nearby. The Soul did not appear to notice and lead them towards the thick of the activity, but the other three had most definitely become aware of the excited movement from the darkness around them and had shown their displeasure at it.

            "This is starting to look pretty bad," Téa had said, beginning the quiet conversation as she gazed, startled and slightly nervous, around her at the frenzied shadows.

            "No kidding," Kawari said, eyeing the shadows as if expecting them to jump him--they _had, _after all, caused the Pharaoh of his Realm to go crazy, so he didn't trust them much. "Just stay close to the Soul...if it's your Challenger, it can't let you die yet."

            "_Yet?!_" Téa snapped, whipping her head around.

            "Well, mine tried to kill me."

            "If I _ever _need some encouraging words, remind me to never ask you." Téa muttered, turning back to face forward.

            "Will do."

            Ryou shook his head and fought the conflicting emotions of sighing in exasperation and bursting out laughing. He ended up occupying himself by keeping a wary eye on the excited shadows around them as well, hoping that they would stay away long enough for Téa to finish their Challenge so that they could get out of here.

            The Soul came rather suddenly to a halt, whirling around gracefully and holding out its pale, elegant arm once more to motion for the threesome to stop. They did so, and once it had seen that they had halted as well, it quirked one long finger towards Téa, motioning for her alone to come forward.

            Téa blinked. "Me? We're doing the Challenge _here?_"

            The Soul nodded in response, indicating once again for Téa to move forward and pointing at the not-quite-ground next to it. Still looking confused, as she didn't know what they were doing yet, the girl moved forward to stand where it had been 'told' to, waiting.

            The Soul waited for her to take her spot, and then nodded, the smallest of smiles flitting onto its transparent face. Its wings spread momentarily and it raised its pale hand to the air again, waving it quietly with several hand motions that Téa supposed vaguely had something to do with spellcasting or magic. She did not see the results of whatever the Soul had done, and looked around in confusion, wondering if this somehow indicated the start of _her _part of the Challenge; Kawari, on the other hand, the only one with a little more experience in magic-sensing than the others, looked around himself and Ryou curiously, as if searching for something.

            Téa saw his confusion, but didn't have much time to ask. With an almighty screeching sound, the shadows, already excited around them, became absolutely crazed. They swirled around both the mortal human and the transparent Soul, screeching their frenzied calls...and began to _attack._

            The brunette wasn't quite sure what was going on at first. She had been standing quite still, rather intimidated by the sudden noise that had exploded from the silence all around them...and the next thing she knew, a sudden pain slashed through the side of her lower arm. Startled, she had raised the limb to see what was wrong, amazed to see a shallow, two-inch long cut on her skin, beginning to bleed but not to any great extent. It looked, she thought in surprise, as though somebody had taken a needle or a small razor and slashed her with it. Another flash of pain, and another cut appeared on her leg, followed by another on her cheek, and another on her other arm. Startled, she glanced around rapidly, wanting to try and spot what was attacking her.

            The answer came quickly as a small wisp of shadows exploded from the darkness all around her, solidifying momentarily into an almost needle-like shape and lancing forward to slice at the skin of her hand, leaving another long-yet-shallow cut there. The little shadowy needle disappeared just as quickly as it had arrived, vanishing into the gloom all around once it had done its work, leaving room for others of its sort to attack her as well.

            Both Ryou and Kawari were surprised at the sudden attack of the shadows, their eyes widening in identical exclamations of astonishment. Ryou took a step forward, yelling to his Negative over the roar of the shadows, "That's not fair, how on earth is this a _Challenge?_ Maybe the Rings can help--"

            "Stand still!" Kawari snapped suddenly, reaching out to grab his opposite's arm with his good, right hand and wincing slightly as the numb left one lost the sudden support he'd been giving it. "Don't move...I think we're being contained by a spell!"

            "What?" Ryou said, blinking. "Where?" He glanced around, but the only thing he could see was the swirling, angry shadows mobbing Téa and the Soul of Purity and Light.

            "Can't see it," Kawari explained, pulling his opposite back a step, and then throwing his right arm back to his left hastily to ease it. "I'm not even sure it's _there,_ I've been learning the basics of sensing other types of magic from Kaeru, but I'm not that good yet...I'm _sure _there's something around us, though. That's what it was setting up when it was making those hand motions."

            "So..." Ryou considered this information for a moment, then asked a new question. "What's it doing, exactly?"

            Kawari frowned a little. "Keeping _us _from getting _out _and keeping those shadows from getting _in._ Look!" He indicated upwards, over their heads, where one of the shadows had tried to lance down at the two of them angrily and had been dispersed before ever reaching them.

            Ryou frowned as well, glancing over at where Téa had been in worry--the shadows had swarmed both her and her opponent so much by now it was hard to distinguish them through the haze of black. "I hope she can do this on her own, then...it might be hard if she doesn't have a Millennium Item..."

            Téa, within the cloud of attacking shadows, was thinking much the same thing. There were cuts all over her, now; though all of them were superficial and only caused by the needle-like shadows grazing at her skin, they were getting more and more numerous, and she _still _wasn't sure what exactly to do. _What kind of Challenge is _this?! _I don't even know how to win it!_

            Hissing slightly as another shadow struck her, she whirled her head to try and find the Soul, thinking that maybe, if she got lucky, she could figure out what _it _was doing and imitate it. She narrowed her eyes to try and find the creature's familiar glow, covering her head with her hands to protect it from the attacking shadows as she did so...and then she spotted it, and gasped.

            The Soul of Purity and Light...was _dancing._

            No, not quite, she realized after a second or two of observation. It looked like it was dancing, but in reality it was dodging the attacks of the shadows with a surprising amount of grace, twirling, dipping and swaying perfectly to protect itself and avoid the needle-like attackers. Téa could see it _had _been hit a few times, as there were long, dark patches where the soul energy creating it had ceased to exist on being touched by the spirit-eating shadows--being a spirit it could not truly be wounded and hurt--but it sported _far _less 'injuries' than Téa did.

            It came back to the teen rather suddenly. _My Challenge was the Challenge of _Grace! _It makes sense now! I know what to do!_ Face set with an expression of determination, she prepared herself for the dance, one small corner of her mind already analyzing the attack patterns of the shadows around her to see if there was any rhythm involved to aid the steps and movement she was readying herself for.

            And then she began. Slowly at first, still a little intimidated by the screeching and mad attacking of the shadows around her, she took a somewhat hesitant step, sliding to her left and spinning a little. She heard something streak past her a hairs-breadth from her face, and realized with a sense of success that she had avoided one of the attacks. The success was short lived as another needle-like attack grazed her arm, slashing over one of the already-existing cuts and causing her to wince slightly in pain.

            _Faster._ She moved right, shifted a little, twirled again, changed her footing suddenly, all at a increasingly more rapid pace, beginning to get the hang of the rhythm being set up for her. The attacking shadows were hitting her less, now, lancing by her harmlessly, the distance from her skin growing as she became more accustomed to her limitations. Another twirl, a slight dip to protect her head from the double attack, a bend of her waist to avoid that slice from the particularly sharp-looking needle slashing by..._piece of cake. I can do this. Just a normal dance...that's all..wish I had some music though..._she outright _laughed _as the image of the Shadow Realm playing music for her during a Challenge for one of the most powerful magical artifacts ever popped into her head.

            The Challenge was all becoming one gigantic rhythm for her now, and she flowed with it perfectly, keeping time with each attack and avoiding it effortlessly. When they sped up, so did she, when the pattern of attacks shifted, her style did as well. It was all one big game to her now, and she was almost _enjoying _it. Unconsciously, she began to make her dance moves a little fancier, adding extra, unneeded moves and amusing herself by seeing how fast she could pull them off before the next attack hit.

            Ryou and Kawari were watching from the sidelines, both relieved that their friend had discovered the secret to the Challenge, but now both of them--particularly Kawari--looked confused. "She's having _fun?_" Kawari muttered, raising an eyebrow as he watched the extra dance moves Téa was throwing into the Challenge for her own amusement. "_Now?_ At a time like _this?_"

            Ryou laughed slightly at the almost comical, confused expression on his opposite's face. "Téa's always loved dancing, though. I bet she wins hands-down."

            Kawari shook his head. "_Our _Téa is a terrible dancer," he said, rolling his eyes, "but that's besides the point. I just hope she doesn't mess up the Challenge because she's fooling around."

            "Don't worry," Ryou said, turning back to watch Téa's progress. "I'm sure she won't."

            Téa thought she was doing _extremely _well as far as surviving in the Challenge was concerned--she hadn't been hit at all for several minutes now, and though she wasn't quite sure, it seemed as if there were less shadows hovering around her, now. She still had no idea how to beat the Soul, however...did she have to wait until it wore out before she could be declared the winner? Because if that was the case...a spirit probably had more endurance for physical activity if it didn't have a body to tire...the girl grimaced a little and, after completing another graceful dodging move, turned her head momentarily to see how her opponent was doing.

            She realized rather quickly why it seemed the shadows around her had lessened--they had all traveled to the Soul of Purity and Light, swarming it, frustrated when they could not hit Téa and deciding instead to attack the slower target. The Soul was still trying gracefully to dance its way free of the attacks that bombarded it, but there were too many shadows, pouring on thicker by the second, and there was hardly any more room to move in order to escape. Slowly but surely, the Soul was being defeated, the black slices in its soul material growing larger and more numerous, the shining, transparent colors of the creature itself becoming smaller and harder to see.

            At last, with the first sound it had ever made--a soft pleading shriek--it fell to its knees, wings sprawled out over its head to try and protect itself from the onslaught of shadows. They bombarded the creature for several moments, but after a sudden flurry of hand movements from the Soul, they came to a sudden halt, retreating in order to swirl once more in the gloom around them, excited but no longer completely crazed.

            Téa stood for several moments, panting slightly and looking somewhat surprised at the sudden retreat of the attackers. Blinking, she glanced over at her opponent, startled at the torn-up state of the Soul, which was currently pulling itself to its spiritual knees and looking a little downcast.

            "Did...did I win?" the mortal girl asked, giving the Soul a slightly sad glance upon seeing its downcast look. The creature nodded slowly, quiet once more, and raised its darkened hand up to point behind them, back where they had come.

            Téa assumed this meant they should head back, and nodded. "Thanks! Er...you'll be okay, won't you?" she added, disliking seeing the Soul of Purity and Light looking torn up and wounded in its own way. The Soul blinked, nodded slowly, and gave a gentle smile, then pointed back in the direction they had come once more, and vanished.

            "Guess that means we should head back now," Ryou volunteered, trotting up to meet Téa, with Kawari a few paces behind him--when the Soul had vanished, the containment spell had as well.

            "Right," the girl agreed, grinning a little as the realization came to her...they had won _another _Challenge. "We need to claim the Scroll of Fate...and then we can get _out _of here. This place is giving me the creeps."

            "Okay, but if we have to go through that maze again, I'm staying here," Kawari remarked flatly. "I can't stand labyrinths..." he grimaced a little as they turned to walk back the way they had come.

            They did not encounter the maze again, however, much to Kawari's pleasure; when the Challenge had ended, it had reverted back to its original shape as the Temple of Darkness, as that was the building they approached, several minutes later. All three were bone tired, and Téa and Kawari had suffered injuries as well (though Kawari's were sufficiently worse) so it came as a relief to see the mysteriously dark building looming before them. Even more relieving was the sight of Custos standing on the steps of the temple, hands folded in front of him and hidden in the arms of his robes once more, with Kaeru and Tristan standing beside him and waiting. Bakura was also there, sitting off to the side on the steps with an annoyed look on his face, as if he'd been hoping the three would lose, but none of them, with the exception of Ryou, paid him any mind, and Ryou only gave him a quick glance before focusing on his _true _companions.

            The Guardian smiled down at them as the three slugged up the steps and came to rest near their friends for the moment; Kaeru eyed Kawari's limp arm with a frown but said nothing, while Tristan looked a little surprised at the multitudes of scratches and cuts covering Téa's skin. After allowing them to rest, the kindly elder opened his mouth, speaking with an edge of praise to his voice.

            "Well done, very well done! Your determination and success amazes me, but then I wonder why, by Ra's name, I ever doubted your abilities for a second. Ah, but you are all tired, and some of you hurt." He shook his head quietly, then brought one hand from the folds of his robes and motioned that they follow him back inside the Temple. "Please, come inside. The Temple will refresh you for your long journey back, and I may heal you within its sacred bounds if you enter." And so saying, he turned and once more glided inside, the dark color of his robes blending him in with the darkness of the building and leaving his hair the only part of him that was distinguishable. 

            "Come on," Kaeru said, giving his hikari's limp arm another glance and looking as though he was having a few regrets about allowing the hikari to take the Challenge, and not himself. "You need that healed." He gave his lighter half a careful nudge to get him moving, seeing as his charge seemed a bit tired and interested in resting, and not going anywhere. The others followed him in, ignoring Bakura's dark smirks and annoying mutters in their direction for the moment.

            When they entered, Custos motioned for them to follow him once more, leading them to the center of the room, where the Scroll of Fate lay glowing innocently on its pedestal. He chuckled as the three Challengers eyed it, speaking up once more. "In a moment. You are all so eager to claim what is rightfully yours...I do not blame you in the slightest. But first, let me heal you..."

            So saying, the elder approached Kawari, stretching out both hands and gently taking the hikari's limp left arm. The Negative automatically winced as the wound was jarred, despite the Guardian's gentle handling, but the expression of pain left him almost instantly as a glow flowed from the elder's fingertips to the wounds that were being treated. After a few seconds of concentration, he released the arm, and Kawari blinked in surprise as he discovered it felt perfectly fine once more, the feeling having returned to it and the numbness driven out. The rest of his wounds were gone too, and he felt pleasantly refreshed, as though he had taken a long rest and had woken brimming with energy.

            The Negative blinked. "That's kinda cool," he said absentmindedly, flexing his left hand and observing the abilities restored to it with interest. Even his torn jacket had been mended, for which he was pleased, and he looked completely brand new.

            Custos chuckled, then moved on to Téa, healing the numerous scratches and cuts that scored her skin and causing them all to vanish within a few moments. She, too, felt refreshed, standing a little straighter and looking a lot more cheerful. Ryou came last; although he was not wounded, he _did _feel a little tired, but that was cleared up almost instantly thanks to the magic bestowed on the Guardian Custos.

            "Now," the elder man said quietly, giving a formal bow and then slipping gently aside, "take the prize that you deserve, and continue on your quest." With one hand, he motioned to the pedestal and its waiting Scroll.

            The three Challengers eyed each other slightly, and then Ryou moved forward, gently plucking the Scroll from its perch. A feeling of power swam momentarily through him when his fingers touched the parchment, but that feeling vanished almost instantly, and still looking a little confused, he carried it back to the others.

            "Who wants to carry it?" he asked, blinking a little. "Kaze's not here, usually we give them to him."

            Kawari shrugged. "I will," he answered, extending his hand for the Scroll. "My pockets are big enough." He smirked a little and gave the baggy pants he was wearing a momentary glance; there were definitely enough large pockets in them to carry _ten _Scrolls, and Ryou supposed it was fairly obvious as to why the Opposition agent would want to wear them. He bet that lots of equipment and weapons could easily be stored in them...

            The Negative carefully placed the Scroll in one of the numerous pockets, patted it carefully for safekeeping, and then turned to Custos. "Thanks," he said calmly. "We need to get going now...have to meet up with the others who were on the Scroll hunt..."

            "Did they travel to the Temple of Light?" Custos asked mildly, straightening and folding his hands together in front of him once more.

            "Yeah, we have another group over there," Tristan said, nodding. "They should be heading back now too, most likely."

            "I see." Custos cocked his head momentarily, and then added, "I hope my nephew did not give them too much trouble. I do not think the solitary life of a Guardian was made for him, but he _did _accept the position...ah, well. Good luck on your journey back, and good luck on your quest to defend against the Shadow Realm." And so saying, the elder man bowed, turned, and glided into the inner chambers of the Temple. They did not see him again.

            The Challengers, now rejoined with their two other companions, stared after the Guardian's path for a moment before turning and exiting the Temple, heading down the deep black, light-absorbing marble stairs and turning to head in the direction that they had originally traveled from. Bakura, noticing them leaving, stood calmly and followed after them with a smirk, rejoining the group in a few moments and looking as if he intended to cause a bit more trouble.

            The six of them stopped long enough for Kaeru to send out the Change of Heart once more to guard them from possible threatening monsters (not without much scoffing and commenting from Bakura) before beginning their journey back, trekking along through the Shadow Realm towards their point of entry. The journey was silent, mostly because of Bakura's presence there; he loomed near them all like a demon ready to pounce, and only Kawari and Kaeru seemed completely unafraid of him.

            It was because of this, they supposed, that Bakura decided to try and annoy _them_ instead.

            "So," he said, smirking darkly as he approached Kawari, "got beat up by a big ol' zombie, did you?"

            Kawari said nothing, but a low growl escaped from his throat.

            Bakura laughed. "Ah, and to think that you were defeated by one of my own prized monsters." He shook his head, a mocking tone to his voice. "Sad, really. You obviously aren't as strong as you appeared." He smirked.  
            Kawari gave him a look, but then rather suddenly laughed in response. "Yeah, right. If I had trouble against it, it probably would have _killed _your physical body. That, let me tell you, would have been entertaining."

            Bakura's eye twitched in anger, but then his smirk came back as he steered the conversation to a topic he _knew _he had the upper hand in. "Tch. Entertaining, eh? Well let me tell you, _I _found your little trip in that _maze _entertaining." He gave a harsh chuckle. "Imagine that, little hikari scared to death of _mazes._ It's almost funny."

            The responses came instantly; Kawari faltered momentarily in his step before turning to give Bakura a furious glare, while Kaeru met his opposite with an absolutely dangerous, warning gaze. "Watch it, Bakura. I told you he has his reasons, and I also told you to shut it."

            Bakura smirked again. "But I don't _want _to shut up about it. I'm rather enjoying the idea of toying with your hikari over this little fear of his." Kawari's hands were balling rapidly into fists, and his narrowed eyes and angry glare suggested he was thinking seriously about attacking.

            The True tomb robber continued anyway. "In fact," he said, smirking, "I think I'm going to use this new knowledge to the best of my ability and--"

            He fell short suddenly as Kaeru stepped up towards him, looking ready to slaughter and _enjoy _it, which was something they hadn't yet seen in the Negative thief. He looked positively enraged, and perhaps the only thing keeping him from outright leaping at Bakura and full-out attacking him was the fact that they were opposites. Even so, his anger was obvious, practically burning the gloom around him, and several shadows flitting here and there within the Realm had rallied to the anger they sensed, excited at the prospect of battle. "I. Said. _Shut it._"

            Bakura _was _trying to annoy the others, but he was no fool, and could see all too well that pushing his opposite any further would be a _bad _mistake. Not only that, but he was outnumbered; Kawari was looking particularly angry too, though nowhere _near _matching the anger of his yami, and even Tristen looked like he was considering joining in the fight against the yami spirit, despite the little use he would be.

            "Fine," he snapped, looking _extremely _angry, but not able to do much about it.

            "Go back to your soulroom," Kaeru added, giving him a flat, demanding look.

            "No."

            Kaeru's eyes narrowed; both Rings were starting to glow now. "You've stayed out long enough. _Too _long, in my opinion. Go back to your soulroom. _Now._ Or as you said before, we _will _make you."

            Bakura's eye twitched again in his anger, and he gave a soft hiss as he looked over the numbers against him again. He growled angrily, realizing he didn't have much choice...they _would _force him back to the Ring if he didn't do it willingly. "_Fine,_" he snapped again, swearing at them loudly before vanishing back to his Millennium Item, out of their way.

            Kaeru sighed, exhaling his anger in one smooth breath while the Millennium Rings lost their furious, burning glow and returned to the simple, shield-sustaining one. He shook his head momentarily, muttering to himself, and then turned, starting the group moving again. "Come on. Let's go."

            The others, save Kawari, blinked, and Ryou muttered tentatively, "That...that was odd..."

            Kaeru still looked rather irritated, but responded with, "There's only so much bullshit I'll put up with," and left it at that. The True Realmers still looked a little surprised at this new side of Kaeru, but had to admit that it was _extremely _handy against Bakura, and so didn't mind it much.

            The rest of the journey, however, was taken in silence.

            Two hours or so after their departure from the Temple of Darkness, they finally reached the boundary of the radius that surrounded the sacred place, and Kaeru announced that they would be able to leave in a few minutes. Feeling relieved, the True Realmers waited, some patiently and others impatiently, for the Negative tomb robber to open a portal out of the Shadow Realm, wanting to get out of the mysterious darkness as quickly as they could--despite the shields, they were beginning to tire after nearly five hours in the energy-draining place.

            At last Kaeru slashed open the disc, and the five dashed out of the Shadow Realm, entering the real world back behind the dumpster they had chosen as their hiding place. Téa wrinkled her nose a little, but said nothing, and the five of them left the dumpster quietly to go in search of the 'borrowed' car Kaiba had 'loaned' them.

            It was just about sunrise by this time, with beautiful reds, yellows, oranges and pinks streaming across the still-partly-dark sky and making for an absolutely wonderful effect. The silhouettes of the tall buildings were perfectly clear against the bright morning colors, somehow making the group of five seem so much smaller when compared against the structures so tall they reached the skies.

            Kawari and Kaeru seemed to enjoy seeing the city so _whole, _not broken and bloodstained, as most in their own Realm were. They spent some time just looking around the streets, observing and pointing out details to each other that non of the True Realmers really seemed to understand the significance of, until Tristan suddenly asked if the clue to the next Scroll was harbored in the Scroll they currently had position of.

            The question was soon answered when the five of them headed over to a bench at the local bus stop, sitting down and carefully unfurling the Scroll, standing in a circle around it so that it would not be easy to see what the Scroll _was. _Kawari scanned the writing on the parchment briefly before searching for the small scrap that usually held the clue, but it wasn't to be found.

            "Damn," Kawari commented, sighing and rolling the Scroll of Fate back up to replace in his pocket. "That Death Scroll Yami and Kaze went after must have it, then."

            "We'll just have to check with them later when they come back out," Téa said cheerfully. "And come to think of it, they're probably back waiting for us...we had the long drive on top of getting the Scroll itself."

            "Suppose we should head back, then," Tristan pointed out, hands in his pockets absentmindedly. "Where did you park the car, Téa?"

            "Um..." the girl thought on it a little, then nodded to herself. "I remember. This way, follow me." And she strode off, the other four following her.

            They had only been walking for about ten minutes when Kawari heard the familiar beep in his ear, and, blinking a little in surprise, raised his hand to his com. link hoop earring to receive the transmission. "Yeah?"

            "Good!" Saguru's voice came over the link, sounding a little worried. "I've tried a few times to get you, but you must have still been in the Shadow Realm...it wasn't picking up."

            "Yeah, well, we're out now," Kawari answered, frowning a little at Saguru's worried tone. The others had noticed his conversation and were motioning for him to tell them what was wrong; he held up his free hand to signal for quiet, and Kaeru, also able to listen in on the conversation, filled them in, whispering.

            "Good. Look, we've got an unexpected problem that's come up."

            "And that would be?"

            "The other group, the one with Kaze and the others in it...they haven't come back yet."

            Kawari's eyebrows raised in alarm. "You serious?"

            "Dead serious." That was a rather morbid way to answer, but the Negative Joey didn't seem to have noticed. "Think you can go check up on them? I have no way to know where they went...no magic."

            The Negative hikari grimaced. "Yeah, but we're an hour and a half away right now...in a different city. We'll try to get there as quick as we can, but..." he frowned slightly, and then added, "You're not telling me something, Saguru. Spill it."

            The answer came after a few seconds of silence, but it wasn't Saguru; it was Kaiba. "Yeah, there's one other detail," the CEO answered, sounding rather snappish and irritated, but also the tiniest bit worried--Kawari could only pick it up because he had heard the same tone in Kaze before. "I got this strange stab of pain just a little while back, right in my chest...it hurt pretty bad, I felt like I had knives in me...but there was no wound. We think it may have been something passed over the thought link to me from Kaze."

            "Shit," Kawari cursed, grimacing a little in worry. "That can't be good...we'll head over as quick as we can. Update us if you get anything else across that thought link of yours." He cut the communication, then turned his head upward to glance at the others, all of whom knew the seriousness of the situation thanks to Kaeru.

            "Let's get moving," the Negative hikari hissed softly, motioning to Téa to continue. "If we don't get there fast, we're going to have a problem."

                        ()                      ()                      ()                      ()                      ()

            An hour later, the team of five had arrived in Domino, all of them feeling somewhat grim, and each ready to do what they could in order to help. They weren't sure what was wrong, but they knew it couldn't have been good, and each had foreboding feelings stirring within their hearts that could not be suppressed. Téa had been so worried she hadn't even minded the continuous encouraging of speeding from both Kawari and Tristan, and had in fact gone _several _miles over the limit, though it did help to shave a half hour off of the travel time, something that Kawari assured her could be crucial.

            Upon reaching the city, Kawari, Kaeru, and even Ryou got to work instantly, Millennium Rings searching for any remote tracings of Yami's Puzzle or Shadow Realm magic. It took them nearly ten minutes to locate it, the amount of time angering both the Negatives, but once they had found the trail they stuck to it like glue, following it to an old, unkempt basketball court that had certainly seen better days.

            "Here," Kaeru muttered, focusing on the energies of the Ring with his full attention. "There's residue of a Shadow Realm portal here..." he pointed behind several scruffy, old-looking bushes, and frowned. "It _is _on the border...but..."

            "What's the matter?" the others asked at practically the same time, each frowning and looking increasingly worried. If Kaze, and maybe the others, had been somehow hurt an _hour _ago...who knew what condition they were in now?

            "Something has been trying to get out of here for some time now," Kaeru said, frowning a little more. "And on this side, I can't tell what it is."

            Téa's eyes widened. "It must be Yami and the others!"

            "_Maybe._" Kawari looked grim. "It could be, but it could also be some monster trying to break out, too. Remember what Yugi said had happened to him, with the Silver Fang?"

            "Oh..." Téa looked crestfallen. The idea that her friends might be suffering was almost too much for her to stand.

            "Is it trying to get out right now?" Tristan asked, frowning slightly.

            "No. The last time something tried to escape was ten minutes ago," Kaeru answered, frowning. "If it was a monster, maybe it gave up."

            Ryou blinked. "But...why would it be Yami? I mean...wouldn't he be able to get out on his own?"

            Kaeru shook his head. "Remember what I said before, about how he might _fully _shield everybody? If he _has _done that...and I have no doubt that he has...he may have used up too much energy to bring himself and others out of the Shadow Realm."

            Tristan frowned. "Damn...this _really _doesn't look good..." he considered for a moment, then asked, "_could _you fight a monster if it came out?"

            Kawari answered this one. "That depends on what it is. If it's something small, a low class monster, he could take it out fine, no problem. But if it's something like a Blue Eyes or some other incredibly powerful monster...well, we're screwed, and on top of that it'd be in the _real world _too."

            "But it could be our friends, too!" Téa cried out in response. "We can't just leave them in there, and--"

            "I hate to break into your conversation," Kaeru growled slightly, "but whatever it is, it's trying to get out again." He frowned. "Better decide now what our decision is."

            Téa looked firm in her decision. "We have to help them, somehow...if it's them...I couldn't forgive myself for leaving them in there!"

            Tristan and Ryou exchanged looks, and then Tristan decided to speak up for the both of them. "We can't just let some giant monster out of there to go rampage in Domino," he said quietly, "but we also agree with Téa...this decision is just too big for a few inexperienced people like us to make..."

            Kawari simply gave his yami a look. "You know my choice."

            Kaeru nodded. "I agree with you." This said, turning to face the portal in question, his hand raising slightly to the Ring.

            "What are you doing?" Ryou asked, eyes widening as action finally began to take place.

            Kaeru planted his feet firmly, both real and imitation Rings glowing brightly with blue fire as he faced the air dripping with Shadow Realm residue and a desperate _something _battering at the barrier separating them from the Realm of Darkness.

            "I'm going to open it for them."

                        ()                      ()                      ()                      ()                      ()

[1] - By 'all those other war stories,' I'm mostly referring to Vietnam. Most of you have probably heard those horror stories. [grimace] In particular, I'm referring to the stories about Vietnam vets who used to live in the fields...they would sleep with their guns next to them, and be ready to wake at a moment's notice. In order for their commanding officer to wake them up, he would nudge their feet--touch anything from the waist up and you'll get bullets in your gut so fast you wouldn't know what hit you, that was how they reacted. That sorta stuff lasted after the war too, from the various stories I've heard about husbands punching out their wives when they were trying to wake them up in the morning. Poor things.

[2] - Does anybody else think Téa has terrible shoe luck? I mean, seriously...all through Duelist Kingdom she's wearing _heels,_ in Noa's virtual world she has big gigantic _platform sandals..._you'd think she'd have broken her ankles by now, but noooo....

[3] - It occurs to me while looking at the actual card 'Soul of Purity and Light,' I don't really know what it's wearing, so I made it up. At first it looked like it had a dress, now the more I look at it it seems like it's not wearing anything...I can't be sure. There's a random guy's head in the way. XD.

                        ()                      ()                      ()                      ()                      ()

HCG: [tired sigh] WHOOO, that took a LOOONG time. But it's done! Yay! [glomps back onto Unmei and gleefully plays with his ponytail]

Unmei: [siiiiiiiiiiigh...]

HCG: [coughs] ANYWAY...random notes...special thanks to my friend **TIM **for helping me with Kawari's fight scene, since I was at loss for creative blade fights and he loves swords just as much as I do...and, er, special thanks to whoever does _Naruto,_ since part of Téa's challenge was inspired by Sasuke getting the crap beaten out of him by Haku's senbon needles in the magic ice mirror technique...thing....XD.

Unmei: Can we PLEASE finish this up? I want to go back to WSJ...I hear she's doing _something _evil to me and I have to be there to try and stop her!

HCG: _Relax,_ that's one of the reasons I have you anyway. [cackle]. I gotta respond to these numerous reviewers first, though. [smirk]

Unmei: Oh Ra, I'll be here all night...[grimace]

HCG: [laughs] Okay, here we go!

**Dream Guardian - **[sweatdrop] Another Kawari kidnapper...fortunately, he seems to have escaped and worked his way back here, because I've got him now...he's a slippery one! Gets it from his yami. [cackle].

**Chikara Takashi - **Kaze's moving up on your list, eh? Well, you've got WSJ and Suma to combat with first before you can get him. [smirk] Good luck. Hey, great to hear you can visualize the story, that's my goal...though you're right, if made into a movie they would probably ruin it. [pout]

**Snow-blown Wind - **You know, I think you're the first fangirl Kawari somewhat respects, since you asked for a _plushie _and not _him._ Nice! [Hands her requested plushie, complete with lil' plushie _Gin Hebi_]. Pirates of the Caribbean kicks ass, I listened to it to write Kawari's fight scene! [random information].

**Quintessence - **Nitpicky is good! You're right, it should have been 'lies,' not 'lay.' [makes a not of that]. Go ahead, slap Kanshinin silly, I don't much like him either. Nope, haven't read either of the books you listed...but I'll have to do that sometime over the summer when I need a good read...[nods].

**Katia-chan - **Ooh, bows! I love bows...I used to be pretty good at shooting a hunting bow...[sweatdrops] which makes me think it would be a _bad _idea for you to shoot that at me...hey, not much to envy here, I just write 'cause I like to.

**Evil Neptune - **Meh, my knowledge of weapons is _okay,_ but not great. I like studying older weapons like blades and such, I take fencing classes (or DID, school's pretty much out now) and I converse about blades with my equally-blade-obsessed friends. If I need to know about modern weapons, I check with my military-loving brother, who knows just about everything there is to know about guns, grenades, etc. Kinda scary when you think about it, but it's useful for war-fic purposes. [nod]

**Chan-chan - **Yay, Chan! Yay Tilly! [gives Tilly many hugs] Heh, if I ever need a beta you're the first person I'll check with. Promise! [nodnod].

**Anime-Blade - **OO;; Dear lord, don't kill me! [hides behind Unmei, her official authoress-notes body guard]. Thanks Blade, I'm not interested in dying anytime soon...[sweatdrop]

**Silver Dragon, Iron Claws - **[grimace] Sorry about not reading your story, but the truth is I barely have time for it anymore. If I was a little bit freer in my schedule, maybe I would, but as things stand in the present I'm rather lacking in time. Again, sorry!

**NeoChaosCrystal - **[cackle] That enough Kawari for ya? But please don't steal him again...I need him. [sweatdrop] Hmm, let's see, GIFTS!

_Kawari_: Damn straight I'm taking that therapy offer, and you better be ready to empty your wallet 'cause it's gonna _cost _you. [takes the coat and dirk cleaning kit, and then snatches the mallet and looks around for Bakura, grinning]

_Kaeru: _[accepts lock picks and cell phone] Oh, good, now I can make sure that jackass opposite of mine is behaving.

_HCG: _Kaze's not here, so I'll set aside that trenchcoat for him for later, along with the BEWD card. Healing spells, unfortunately, cannot get rid of that limp this long after he got the wound, but It'll be very soothing for him.

_Ryou: _[cheerfully takes the other cell phone] Great, I can keep in touch with Kaeru! [blinks at the mallet, but looks appreciative of the shiny things to keep his yami distracted]

_Bakura: _I am INSULTED! _Dirty Socks? _[shakes fist at NCC] I deserve more than that! Look at how much important stuff I did in _this _chapter!

_Saguru:_ OOh, good, I was running low on ammo anyway...[loads up his gun]. The duel was nothin'.

_Joey: _[sits down and immediately starts flipping through that book of insults, smirking and awaiting the time when he can use them on Kaiba]

_Kaiba:_ [smacked with newspaper] OW! I don't deserve this! Forced to be a muse, getting smacked with random objects...[twitch, then snatches the aspirin and downs a few to get rid of the headache he has, and totally ignores the book on magic].

_Yugi: _[hugged, then downs half the sugar and bounces off the walls, totally Naosu-like, which is weird since he's the opposite]

_Yami: _[downs his whole bottle of aspirin--not much to worry about as far as overdose since he's a spirit--and hides behind his giant pile of hair gel tubes until Yugi calms down]

_Mokuba: _PIXI STIX! YAY! [eats them, and gets just as hyper as Yugi. Okay, a _little _less hyper, but not by much].

_Tristan:_ [hugged] [confused] O....kay....er, thanks, I guess?

_Téa: _Whoo, shopping spree! [heads off for the closest mega mall]

HCG: [calls] Have fun buying your random outfits that don't have matching colooooooors! [cough] Anyway, thanks for giving them the presents, they deserve it, heh heh.

**Insane - **[sweatdrop] Oh dear, I fear when somebody named 'Insane' is trying to kill me with their swords....[whiiiine]

**Liviania - **I dunno, it's just one of the grand schemes of life. Authoresses love to torture the characters and have evil mean things done to them. [shrug] Beats me why.

**Wingleader Sora Jade - **AH! I FEAR THE CHANDELIER OF **DOOM!** [hides] You think my poetry is good? Well...that's a new one...I don't honestly think it's that spectacular, just random witty lines about fields and rocks and shtuff. XD.

**Aurora-Lee - **The knife got there because Kaze flung it really fast at the staff before Kanshinin noticed he had actually attacked. If you don't pay attention generally you won't see a master knife thrower do his work. [shrug]

**The Mad Tortoise - **Hmm...how could I do that? Because the idea was in my brain and my fingers typed it and it went on a computer screen into a file, which I then posted. [cheesy grin] That's how! [laughs]

**crazydominodragongirl - **The Tiger was a test of worthiness. All the monsters were. That's why they showed up. [nodnod]. Kaze's still worthy even though the Queen Bird beat the carp outta him 'cause he defeated it too...and got hurt trying to save others. Yup. Gotta love self-sacrifice.

**Windswift - **XD HEART OF THE KNIVES! [falls over laughing] Anyway, Ryou was in this one, just like you said he should be. Satisfied?

**Magical Mage - **Hmm, fatigue, that's a good point. I had some of them sleep and/or be refreshed in this chapter, satisfy you any? I'll have to think on that one...

**Ebony Kuroneko - **Yes, it would suck royally if Kaze got shadow infected. [Imagines...Shadow Mad Kaze....that's strange, it is it is] Not that he'd be as dangerous as SM YAMI, of course, but still...not fun...And you know as well as I do Kawari-angst isn't a threat to me, I love it! Unless, of course, Kawari and Kaeru decide to gang up and murder me in my sleep...[sweatdrop]

AAAAAND that looks like everything relevant...[nods] Let's see...any announcements? [plays with Unmei's hair while thinking]

Unmei: [sweatdrop]

HCG: Oh yes! [beams] My birthday's next week! June 14th! Wish me a happeh birthday! HCG desires fanart presents...[cough] [eyes all those artists out there....they know who they are...]

Unmei: [rolls his blind eyes]

HCG: Er, think that's it! Oh, wait, writing will be coming along slowly 'cause I have no computer to set up at home...long story but my room can't hold my computer in it...so it may be a while before I can update again. Not that that's much different from the norm. [sweatdrop]

Unmei: Can I go now?

HCG: [sighs and plays with his ponytail one last time before hopping off him] Okay...you're free...head on back to WSJ now. Tell her thanks for the loan.

Unmei: ...yeah...right....[sweatdrop] [teleports out]

HCG: [cough] Anyway folks, so there's Chapter 12! REVIEW all! Thanks!


	13. Of Death and Desire

****

A QUICK NOTE: Due to the whole problem, this chapter is MORE screwed up than usual. I tried to use **LoneWolf16**'s tips on fixing the symbols, but it didn't work, and while I tried to go back and change some of this stuff quickly so I could have the chapter up fast, I may have skipped some things, like for example the hyphens/whatever you want to call them that symbolize breaks in sentence structure or whatever. So sorry if the chapter seems a little screwy…I'll try to get it fixed as soon as possible. MAJOR APOLOGIES.

HCG: 'lo, all, and welcome back to the LOOOONG awaited CHAPTER 13! Whoooo! [audience applause light goes on]

Readers: [all still shaking their weapons of choice furiously]

HCG: [sweatdrops] [applause light flickers out stone cold dead] Er....um....well...so....you don't all look too happy out there....[sweatdrops again]

Kawari: [dryly] What was your first clue?

HCG: Well...the fact that they're all swinging big gigantic weapons around is a bit of a tip off, and also…

Kawari: [smacks forehead] Never mind. I don't want to know.

HCG: Oh. [blink] But you just asked me to--

Kawari: [exasperated sigh] I'm beginning to wonder which is more trying, being stuck with Ebony or HCG. [considers] No, wait, scratch that, I'd rather be with HCG than Ebony...Ebony's got Nozomi. [annoyed look]

HCG: [glee] Awww, Kawari, you love meeeeee!

Kawari: [siiiiiiigh]

HCG: [cough] ANYWAY. Getting back to business. This chapter was slightly delayed because I had problems setting up my computer, and unfortunately all my medical/CPR notes that I needed for THIS chapter...which I looked up a good six, seven, eight months ago…were on said computer. So I couldn't actually WRITE anything until _several _weeks after NC12 had gone up. And then I was mostly working on ST6….which still isn't up yet…[cough]

Kaeru: Excuses, excuses.

HCG: [pout] _You _try keeping all this stuff in check! It's not easy to make it stay organized!

Kaeru: [rolls eyes]

HCG: [cough] Er...yeah...so, I suppose you all want to know what happened to your dear, delightful Kaze? Well....as a reminder...currently he has a big gaping hole in his chest!

Kaze: [eye twitch]

Readers: (Most notably WSJ) [raise weapons higher and growl threateningly]

HCG: [deeeeeep sweatdrop] [hides behind Kaeru] Er...well....now you'll see how that little problem is resolved! Will Kaze be saved, or shall he DIE A HORRIBLE PAINFUL DEATH?! [cackle]

Kaze: You're digging your own grave. [eye twitches again]

HCG: [whine] I dun wanna die yet...

Kawari: Then get to the story. Moron.

HCG: [sweatdrop] Er...right! So, without further delay....

Kawari: Yeah, right...

HCG: [cough, pointed glare] CHAPTER 13! Kawari, disclaimer!

Kawari: See, there you go, there's a delay...[rolls eyes] Yu-Gi-Oh doesn't belong to HCG, and she claims no ownership over it. The Negative Realm, all related Realm theories, characters, and plot ideas belong to HCG… you steal, and she'll make you _suffer_, there are a few who have experience with this [pointed glares] and the Elements belong to Wingleader Sora Jade, though the Scrolls they're currently connected to belong to HCG. That's all. Enjoy the story...or something. [shrug]

Notes:

Kawari: NR Ryou

Kaeru: NR Bakura

Kaze: NR Kaiba

Saguru: NR Joey

italicized words are thoughts or memories/dreams

Other stuff? Hmm....**Lonewolf16**, and any other medical/biology experts out there, don't brutally slaughter me for this story/chapter. I did the best I could with this, and spent several hours researching the subject, but as it stands you can't exactly take paramedics to the Shadow Realm, so I've had to bend a few 'rules.' I also used the military a lot as an example and checked with my military-obsessed brother on everything here. So if any of it's incorrect, tell me, but don't hurt me, please. I'd rather not have to go through similar caretaking procedures myself.

......and if for some reason you didn't get that, that means there's **BLOOD **in this chapter. So get over it.

Oh, and a note for WSJ, too. I meant no connections with your own fics when I wrote this. And....well, you'll see what I mean later...just keep in mind that I was _not _trying to copy/use your stories as a base when I wrote one scene later in the fic...don't hurt me either.

That's it. I could be mean now and stop the story right _here_, but...I think you'd all kill me, so...I won't. [sweatdrop]

Negative Chaos

Chapter 13: Of Death and Desire

"_Kaze!_" Came a wild scream, ripping from Mokuba's throat in the eternal darkness of the Shadow Realm, only to be swallowed up and silenced eerily quickly. "Brother! _No!_"

Terrified, fearing for his opposite-Realm brother to the point of a screaming panic raging in his head, he dashed forward, collapsing to his knees beside the still form of Kaze. The older teen was unconscious, face-down on the not-quite-ground of the Shadow Realm, back rising and falling with each tortured breath, but slowly, in irregular gasps. Blood was already beginning to pool underneath him, but Mokuba ignored it, ignored the fact that he was practically _kneeling _in it, as he studied his 'brother' with his gray, worried gaze.

Beginning to express his panic more openly, the boy began to mutter to himself, eyes flickering back and forth desperately as he wondered what to do. He didn't know how to deal with this situation; he'd never taken a first aid class, or anything similar, and _certainly _hadn't expected anybody related to him to be torn open by some savage bird several times the size of a human. A thought streamed into his head: he was useless, he couldn't save Kaze, he was going to watch him die right there, because he couldn't do anything.

_No! Don't think like that,_ Mokuba yelled at himself, closing his eyes momentarily and taking deep breaths to try and calm himself more. _What was it Seto always said? Stay cool under fire...that's it. Can't let the pressure get to me...I _know _I can save my brother somehow..._

Biting his lip, Mokuba considered a moment before moving forward to try and roll Kaze over, so that the wound was exposed. The teen was a lot bigger than him, being over six feet in height, but Mokuba managed with only a little difficulty, and soon Kaze was sprawled on his back.

The sight brought stinging tears to the black-haired boy's eyes, but he angrily suppressed them, staring down at his newly 'adopted' brother. Kaze's face was contorted in pain, even in his unconsciousness, and his shirt and trench coat around his torso had been torn and bloodied, exposing flesh. Or what was left of flesh; the chest was a mass of twisted skin and bone, and Mokuba could see all too clearly the impressions the Queen Bird had left with its huge talons; the slashes that cut across the whole torso; the way the claws had closed, squeezing everything within their grip, snapping the bone of the ribcage and forcing the talons deep, towards heart and lungs. There was blood everywhere, soaking fabric a deep black and causing what unmarred skin was left to look deeply pale, lifeless.

It made Mokuba nearly want to throw up; it was disgusting, and he hated to think that it had all happened because he and the others had been too careless concerning those monsters. He pulled his hands away from the grips they had used to turn his brother over, and saw that they were stained red, the liquid literally dripping off of his fingers, the smell pungent in the air. He fought the urge to vomit once more and automatically staggered away, gulping at the 'fresh' air of the Shadow Realm.

There was no way he could help with that wound at all, of that he was sure. What could a simple kid like him do? He had no experience with this, nobody to help him. The panicked yelling in his head was beginning to overwhelm the calming, in-control thoughts that he had been previously listening to. _No one to help you, no one to save him, watch him die, watch your own brother die..._

_No!_ he thought suddenly to himself, even as the darker thoughts had begun to move forward to envelop him. _That's not true...I'm not the only one here...Yugi's here! And Yami! And Joey, too! Maybe _they _know what to do!_

A small flicker of hope wedged itself firmly in his brain, and he turned and darted towards where he had seen Yugi fall, hoping against hope that the teen was all right enough to be able to get up and help. But where _was _he? Mokuba looked around, nervous. They couldn't have disappeared...not here...they couldn't leave him alone with these...these _monsters..._and these creepy shadows...he'd _die _here, and so would his brother!

And then...a burst of relief filled him as he saw that familiar spiky head of hair, huddled in the darkness a few feet away from him. The way these shadows swirled, as if they were alive, he hadn't noticed for a moment. Quickly, he dashed over to his friend, kneeling down beside him, as well. No blood, he was relieved to see, or at least, not much of it; not as much as with Kaze, at any rate. Only a small river of it coming from a large lump on the small teen's head, from where he had received the powerful wing strike from the Queen Bird, and it looked as though, with time, it would heal well enough, though it would leave the bearer with a striking headache for some time to come.

"_Yugi!_" Mokuba yelled, nervous, spurred on by his brother's condition. He grabbed his friend's shoulder and shook hard, willing the hikari to wake up. "Yugi, please, I need your help! I need _somebody_'s help! Please!"

No response. The blow Yugi had taken from the bird had knocked him out cold. Panicked, Mokuba turned to Joey, only a few feet away, and shook him by the shoulder as well, calling his name. Joey moaned a little, but did not awaken, and Mokuba was filled with a sense of despair. Desperate, he turned back to Yugi and shook him once more, but just as before nothing happened...until he spotted the Puzzle, connected to the teen's neck by a silvery chain, currently lying next to its owner where it had fallen when the host had been hit.

Mokuba recalled vaguely that Yugi had told him about the wish he'd made on the Puzzle, that the Puzzle had at one point granted his greatest wish, before he had really met and understood Yami. Out of desperation, he grabbed the golden Puzzle and, clutching it tight in his hands, squeezed his eyes shut and begged.

_Please,_ he whispered softly, _I need help...I can't do this on my own...I don't know what to do, and he'll die...we might _all _die..._

He snapped his eyes open and stared down at the Puzzle, still looped around Yugi's neck, as if expecting something. At first, it did nothing, only sitting there quietly in his hands and somehow glinting with reflected light, despite the fact that there was no light to give in the gloom of the Shadow Realm. But then, sluggishly at first, but building in power, the Puzzle began to glow...and then, with a sudden flash, Yugi began to stir, moaning from the pain in his head, but undoubtedly conscious.

"Yugi!" Mokuba cried out loud, another dash of hope growing in his mind as he saw the hikari awaken.

"Mokuba....what happened?" Yugi asked, dazed, as he brought his hand up gingerly to touch the bloody welt on his head. He winced at the contact, grimaced, and added, "I remember that bird and after that...well....it had really strong wings. That's all I remember."

Mokuba found himself babbling without warning, trying to talk his way through the jumbled images that he had experienced in only a few second's time. "You got hit," he murmured softly, "and then Joey did too, he tried to save you, and then Kaze fought it, and he won, but..." the boy trembled slightly, the tears once more coming forth unbidden. "But...he got....hurt." He couldn't bear to give full details on the wounds; it was as if, as long as he kept it unsaid, they wouldn't exist, would somehow be only a bad joke that would quickly go away. He knew it wouldn't work that way, of course, but it was a desperate, childish whim that he clung to.

"Hurt?" Yugi asked slowly, groaning again a little as he stood up. He glanced momentarily at the Puzzle, faintly glowing now as it once more took up the task of guarding the souls of the travelers there, and the hikari knew that his yami was sustaining them from his soul room for the moment, where he had an easier time controlling the magic after such chaos. "Hurt...how?"

Mokuba trembled again, pointed slowly off in the direction his 'adopted brother' now lay in. "Go...go see...it's really bad...I don't know what to do..."

Frowning deeply, Yugi walked in the direction Mokuba had pointed out, his imagination bringing to mind gruesome pictures and ideas of what could have possibly happened to his friend. He had thought his imagination, spawned mostly by movies, had been disgusting, and what he had seen in mental imagery was bad enough...but when he stepped through the darkness and spotted the sprawled, pale, still form laying at his feet, he had a sudden fleeting thought, a voice that whispered to him that he hadn't even come close to the horrific wounds the Blue Eyes now sustained.

He heard a soft whimper behind him, and realized Mokuba had followed him, had now laid eyes on that disgusting, gaping wound again. Yugi felt instantly that the poor child shouldn't have to see such a thing, shouldn't see it at _all,_ and hastily stepped in front of him, blocking his eye contact with the bloody mess that was left of Kaze's chest.

He had been too late though, he knew that much. Mokuba had been the first of them to see that terrible wound anyway, and there was nothing that would change that. His thoughts were confirmed when the black-haired boy whispered softly, "Is he...will he....he's gonna die, isn't he?"

"No!" Yugi said sharply, both for the comfort of the boy next to him as well as his own. "No, of course he won't. I promise. We'll get him out of the Shadow Realm...and then..." he stopped short, grimacing. Even if they _could _get Kaze out of the Shadow Realm in time, which was a slim possibility considering the distance they still had to cross before they reached the barrier again, what could they do next? Could the paramedics _really _handle such a serious wound? And there was no denying that Seto Kaiba suddenly in critical condition in the hospital would cause an uproar in Domino city; _everybody _would hear of it by the time the day was finished.

Still, he had to reassure the younger Kaiba. "Just....don't worry. He'll be fine. I promise." _And I _will _try to help him,_ Yugi added to himself. _Even if it _does _seem hopeless. All we need to do is believe._

Taking a deep breath, the teen took a few steps forward until he was standing directly next to the unconscious Negative, shaking off the nervous feeling he automatically gained at being at such close proximity to a severely injured person. Slowly, he bent down and extended two fingers to press carefully against the Blue Eyes' neck just below the jawline, searching for a pulse and feeling vaguely as though, if he touched that injured being, the person would shatter and break, somehow.

But Kaze didn't shatter, and Yugi was relieved to find a pulse still beat feebly against the skin of his neck, though it was very weak and rapid, as though it was trying too hard to spread life fluids through the body. The teen swallowed slightly and hastily withdrew his hand, gazing at the wound once again and frowning.

The teen considered for a few quick moments, very aware that time was of the essence if they were going to save their other-Realm friend, and then, coming to a decision, he spoke. "Mokuba," he said slowly, "Go wake up Joey. I'm going to need his help for this."

"I tried," the poor boy said helplessly. "He wouldn't wake up!"

"_Keep _trying," Yugi said urgently, even as he knelt down beside the unconscious Opposition leader, hastily removing the Scrolls and knives from Kaze's trench coat so that he could remove it. "Yell at him, shake him...anything. We need his help for this. Hurry!"

Mokuba nodded quickly, looking extremely worried, and darted off back into the gloom towards where he knew Joey still lay, determined to complete his task as quickly as possible. Yugi ignored him for the moment; he had finished removing all the contents from Kaze's trench coat and was now attempting to take it off the injured teen. The slightest movement to his torso, however, and he would give a sudden intake of breath, a tortured groan that would express his pain, and Yugi ended up using one of the knives to cut it free, with Yami appearing in a physical form to help him pull it from underneath the prone figure without causing too much agony.

There wasn't much left of the shirt, at least the front of it, but Yugi set about unbuttoning that as well and carefully setting it open, to leave the wound fully exposed so that he could care for it. The wounds looked even worse now that there was no cloth to partially hide them, and Yugi grimaced, fighting the lurching in his stomach at the sight and smell of it, the feel of the blood on his hands.

The teen paused at the sudden stirring he heard behind him and turned his head to look over his shoulder, frowning slightly. Yami, on the other side of the unconscious Negative Kaiba, had already seen who was approaching and dismissed the sight, returning to studying the wound as best he could so that he could contribute what little medical knowledge he had to their aid.

Joey was approaching, rubbing his head and muttering under his breath, complaining loudly about the massive splitting headache he was currently undergoing. Mokuba trailed behind him, looking nervous and wiping away a few stray tears with the back of his hands, trembling as they came within sight of his injured 'brother.'

"Damn bird, stupid thing shouldn't even have existed, at this rate this stupid headache isn't gonna leave and " he halted in mid-sentence as his eyes came to rest on Kaze's still form, and they widened visibly in shock and disgust, his mouth dropping open before he spoke again. "Wha....What the hell happened?!"

"Apparently," Yami spoke up, using the calmest tone he could on seeing Mokuba's increase of tears at Joey's words, "after the bird attacked us, he fought it off but gained _these _injuries in the process." He gave a somewhat tired sigh and shook his head; no matter the situation, he was still rather lacking in magical energy, and although he had lowered the shields _slightly _after that attack so that he had emergency reserves he wasn't stupid, after all it was still draining him.

"D-damn," Joey said shakily, unable to tear his eyes from the wounded figure. Then, after several moments had passed, he shook his head slowly and said in a more controlled, but obviously forced manner, "Okay...so....what should we do about this?"

Yugi frowned slightly, then answered slowly, "We have to take this step by step...just one piece at a time, or we're going to panic too much to save him." Mokuba whimpered a little, but the Hikari added reassuringly, "Don't worry, he'll live, just as long as we do everything carefully and quickly. He'll be fine." Mokuba nodded a little, trusting Yugi to see his 'brother' through.

"Okay," the teen began, thinking carefully through his first aid courses carefully, "we'll need to bandage him first. Once we do that, we can think about moving him, but that will be difficult...so first, let's just get that wound wrapped up."

"With what?" Mokuba asked, worried. "We don't have any bandages or anything!"

"Then we'll make do," Yami answered quietly, his outwardly calm presence seeming to sooth the boy a little. "With this." And he gestured to the discarded trench coat, the long trails of fabric that hadn't been torn calling invitingly to be used as bandages to wrap up the horrible wound.

"You're right!" Joey exclaimed, nodding at the excellent idea. "Here, I'll make'em." And grabbing one of the throwing knives from the small pile of weapons that had been removed from the trench coat, he began slashing up the flowing 'tail' ends of it, cutting them into long, wide strips that could be wrapped around Kaze's whole torso and still leave a little left over for adjusting the tightness of the bandages.

After only a few minutes, a small pile of the makeshift bandages had been made, though it had seemed to take far too long for _any _of them, even Yami. Kaze had not made a sound during the whole time, and his eerie silence disturbed them greatly; all of them were all hoping he'd do _something, _make _any _sort of noise, even a call of pain just to prove that he still had a firm grip in the world of the living.

"Good," Yugi said quietly, once Joey had finished tearing up a portion of the trench coat. "Those'll do for now. Let me think here..." he considered for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. Joey, you'll have to hold Kaze up so that I can wrap the bandages all the way around him...Mokuba, if you just stand on that side, you can help me." The boy nodded quickly, moving to the spot in an instant, willing to do anything to help his 'older sibling.'

Joey waited until both of them were ready, then carefully lifted the opposite Kaiba up, moving him as little as possible and leaving _just _enough space for Yugi and Mokuba to slip the bandages around his back. The Blue Eyes gave a violent gasp of pain even at so slight a movement, and blood dripped from the corners of his mouth as he coughed it up, causing Mokuba to tremble a little and even made Yami and Yugi grimace, but they continued with their work hurriedly and soon had the wound wrapped up as best as they could. It did, at any rate, serve its purpose to slow, and possibly even stop, the massive amounts of bleeding, and as Yugi said, "as long as we can keep him from losing _too _much blood before we get out of here, we _should _be able to save him."

As soon as they finished with the makeshift bandage, Joey carefully, but quickly, set the Negative back to the stirring, twisting almost-ground, allowing him to rest momentarily after the pain he had just suffered. The Opposition leader gave a soft groan and then fell silent and still once more, his labored breathing the only sounds they could hear from him; yet they _could _see slight differences in him, now. The tips of his fingers were tainted a slight bluish-gray from lack of oxygen, and his skin looked somewhat clammy.

Worried and whimpering a little, Mokuba sat down by his 'brother's' head, stretching out his hand and tentatively brushing aside the wounded Kaze's bangs, as though trying to give some comfort even though the teen wasn't conscious to recognize it. Indeed, it seemed to calm the younger Kaiba down more than anything else, now that he felt he was doing something useful, even though in reality he was hardly doing anything beyond waiting.

Yugi watched the black-haired boy brushing his 'adopted' sibling's hair away from his forehead, frowning a little as he thought of what action should be taken next. They had to get Kaze out of there immediately, that much was apparent...if they waited here too long, he wouldn't make it. Sighing, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Okay. This next part is going to be hard, since he's still hurt pretty bad, but...we gotta get Kaze _out _of here right now. We need to move him, as best we can without making that injury worse."

Yami nodded in agreement. "It would be wise to leave here before any monsters catch the scent of blood, too."

Joey shivered. "_More _monsters? No way. _He_ " he indicated Kaze with a jerk of his thumb, " would be eaten before we could so much as blink. He can't even defend himself anymore!"

"Exactly," Yami said, shaking his head a little, "which is why it would be best to move before they have a chance to get here."

The blonde sighed a little in frustration, but then nodded. "Okay. How do we move him then?" He indicated the prone Opposition leader once more.

Yugi considered for a few minutes, and then volunteered his idea. "Well...Joey, you're the tallest and strongest person we've got right now...I hate to ask it, but it looks like you'll have to do a majority of the heavy lifting..."

"No problem, just tell me what to do." The teen gave a thumbs-up and grinned a little in an attempt to lighten the mood, though with a wounded person only a few feet away, the effect was sorely lessened, and he eventually gave up.

"Let me think," Yugi muttered, still trying to come up with a possible solution. After a few seconds extra pause, he sighed and nodded. "It isn't perfect, but it'll do for now, at least moving a short distance. Joey, you'll have to carry Kaze by holding underneath his arms, and you'll have to support his torso as best as possible. We can't have that wound bending too much or it'll get worse. Me and Mokuba," he continued, not even noticing as the black haired boy's head snapped up, anxiously awaiting his orders, "will have to help Joey carry him by each supporting one of his legs, which should also help to lessen the stress placed on the wound....I _hope_, anyway."

"Do you want me to do anything, aibou?" Yami asked, careful to keep his voice and appearance calm as he had been doing before he knew from personal experience that others would tend to 'feed' off the confidence of even _one _person high in morale, and that could make all the difference in the situation.

"No....I don't think so anyway, not right now." He glanced up at his yami quickly. "Thanks, though..."

Yami nodded, keeping his mind set on the task of defending the little rescue team and carrying the discarded knives, Scrolls, and trench coat, instead. He didn't mind Yugi's sudden shift into the 'leader,' of the group; he _did _know more about the situation medically than Yami did, after all, and he knew it was of the essence to make sure their friend stayed alive, no matter what it took.

Joey and Mokuba, meanwhile, had moved forwards towards their positions and were waiting for Yugi to join them and give the signal. Joey stood near Kaze's head, shifting as he awaited some sort of action to take place and unable to stand still in such a situation, while Mokuba waited quietly on the Blue Eyes' left side, looking nervous.

"Okay," Yugi called, as he moved to Kaze's right side, "On the count of three, we'll have to lift. It's going to hurt him, but we just have to move quickly so we can get him to medical attention as soon as possible." The others nodded, and so he began to count. "One...two...three!"

They lifted the teen quickly, Joey taking most of the weight while Yugi and Mokuba helped to steady the wounded being as much as possible. When each had a firm grip, they began to shift, moving as fast as possible while still keeping the Negative relatively still, trying to cover ground while carrying in the difficult position.

It was not easy, but not only because of the care needed while working with the wound; it was just as difficult to listen to Kaze's gasps of pain. For almost as soon as they had lifted him, he had cried out, groaning in pain as his terrible wounds were shifted. Mokuba squeezed his eyes shut against the sound, unable to cover his ears while helping to move his 'brother,' while Yugi and Joey both grimaced and tried to ignore it so that they could work without distraction, though they did not manage as effectively as they would have liked to control this tactic.

It became more difficult, too, when the cries of pain began to change, growing to have an almost delirious, feverish pitch...and growing, too, to form _words._

They were difficult to recognize at first, hidden between loud gasps and ragged, torn breathing, but the more time passed as they carried the teen, the more they began to recognize that there _were _words there, that Kaze was somehow _talking_, even now. Startled, Yami, the only one who did not have to help with the movement of their wounded friend, leaned closer to try and hear exactly what was being said, 'translating' it into clearer speech for the benefit of others.

It was strange, what he managed to hear. From the way it was spoken, Yami was almost _sure _it was a delirious raving, but at the same time...what he spoke of seemed so clear-cut, so precise, that the former Pharaoh doubted it was simply crazed dreams caused by the angry wounds in his chest. "The Pharaoh...the people, all his people, did he not _care?!_ A slaughter to cause a slaughter, lives for lives, blood for blood...death for power...he did not care! What could cause such a cruel heart to be born...why would _They _allow it so? Why would They? A test...a punishment? No...They are not that cruel...only the Pharaoh....only him...and yet...am I any better? I fought, yes...but I fought too late...I fought to preserve, but still....to fight death is a lost battle...I could not win, I could never win...all I caused was more death...but perhaps...perhaps I prevented eternal suffering...perhaps I still prevent it...only They truly know...but I will still fight, never shall I allow my will to die...!"

Yami blinked in surprise at this rather resolute ending, and looked over at the others curiously, frowning a bit. That had been...odd...

"What was _that _about?" Joey hissed, shifting his grip a little to hold the unconscious Opposition agent.

"Delirium..." Yami muttered slowly, still frowning.

"Maybe it was just him thinking over some of the war stuff from his Realm," Yugi suggested. "They've been through a lot over there, after all...I suppose it wouldn't be surprising to have...I dunno...weird dreams about them when you're injured. I heard that happens in wars."

"You may be right," Yami admitted...but nobody heard the soft, "but I don't think this is _quite _as recent as you think," that followed under his breath.

They fell silent as they focused completely on their travel, attempting desperately to get their friend to safety before he passed on. All that could be heard with the painful gasps from Kaze, caused by his laborious breathing and the cries that he could not keep from escaping his lips every time his wound was jarred. The skin around his eyes and lips was beginning to tinge the same worrisome gray-blue that his fingertips had adopted, and Yugi was beginning to become extremely worried from these signs. The Blue Eyes was obviously suffering from shock, but if they hadn't even managed to slow the bleeding...

"Stop," the short teen finally called, sighing. "Set him down..._gently!_ This isn't going to work...we need a better way to transport him, faster than this."

"What's wrong with this?" Joey asked, frowning, as the three of them carefully set the injured teen down a gasping sigh escaped him as he was finally laid flat and still.

Yugi indicated the Negative's fingertips. "Major blood loss," he said quietly. "the way we're moving him keeps the wounds open and allows them to bleed. And we're not going fast enough. By the time we _got _to the barrier, Kaze'd be long dead..." Mokuba whimpered again he hadn't been able to keep the tears from his eyes for some time now and sat down near his 'brother's' head again, watching him quietly.

Yami carefully placed the items he had been carrying on the almost-ground of the Shadow Realm and moved forward, frowning a little. "Before you do anything else," he suggested, "I would consider very seriously changing those bandages. Look at them." He pointed, indicating the blood-stained trench coat strips wrapped around Kaze's chest; they were soaked through, obviously not doing any good whatsoever in the attempt to stop the blood flow.

Yugi sighed. "Yeah, you're right," he admitted, as Joey began to cut more 'bandages' from the remains of the coat Yami had, fortunately, brought with them. He was done after a few minutes, and the process of re-bandaging Kaze began quickly, with the four working as fast as possible to keep the life fluids from escaping. There was no difference in the torn wound, other than the angry looking, raw red color beginning to emerge on the edges of the bloody, gaping holes. The wound was beginning to get infected.

"Damn," Joey muttered. "That means we have even _less _time, don't it?"

Yugi nodded, looking worried as he carefully secured the last bandage. "Yeah...how're we going to get him out of here _fast?_"

Mokuba shivered a little from his brother's side he had once again taken up the 'comforting' of his adopted brother and was again stroking his bangs aside carefully and spoke up. "It's hard with _three _of us carrying him...we all have to go slow so we can work together okay..."

Yami considered this, and nodded. "If only one of us could carry him effectively, without injuring him the process could, perhaps, go much faster."

"There's no way we could pull that off, though!" Joey said, shaking his head. "You saw what the wound looked like. How could just one of us move him _safely?_"

Yugi stared at the silvery-flamed bandages they had just finished replacing, already beginning to soak up blood, and then said slowly, "How would _they _do it?"

The others blinked. "Hmm?"

The smaller teen looked up at them. "The Negatives! They must deal with stuff like this all the time, right? How would _they _move somebody?"

"Good question, Yug'," Joey commented, sounding somewhat sarcastic in his frustration. "Unfortunately, our one and only Negative is _down and out _for the time being, so it don't look like that's gonna get answered!"

Yugi attempted to be patient. "Okay, so we can't ask a Negative," he admitted, "but how would any soldier do it? Any war-trained person?"

Joey opened his mouth for another frustrated smart-response, but then froze as the question hit home. "Hey," he muttered slowly, "I think I know..."

All of them looked startled, but Mokuba practically leapt at him, looking urgent. "How, how?!"

"One of the guys on my old paper route used to be a soldier...he told me a whole _bunch _of stuff about that World War II he was in...never stopped yapping about his ol' war stories, but I never thought it'd come in handy!"

"Just explain it!" Mokuba practically shouted, trembling slightly in his anxiousness and turning back to glance worriedly at his older brother. "I don't want him to...to..."

"Calm down!" Joey shouted back. "Give me a second...what'd he say? Normally in war you gotta get an injured person outta there fast, you can't just wait around for somebody to come on by and whisk you to the nearest local hospital...if they can move you can try to support them while they partly walk on their own, but...if they have a chest injury or something like that..." he glanced momentarily at Kaze, "...then you can try to carry them on your back...create a harness or something to support them so they don't jar around too much or injure themselves further."

A few moments of silence passed as the three remaining conscious beings stared at Joey in surprise. The teen was beginning to think his idea would be rejected, but then Yugi spoke up, nodding and looking almost relieved.

"Of course! It might work...we'll have to be really careful how we do it, but still..." he considered, but then frowned. "But...what could we use as a harness? We have no rope or anything..."

"Belts," Mokuba volunteered shakily, also looking somewhat relieved that an idea had been decided on. "You can buckle them together and hook it to whoever's doing the carrying." He pointed at Yugi and Yami. "And between you two, we've got a lot of them."

Yami nodded, immediately setting about removing several belts from around his waist none of them actually there other than for style, one for holding his deck. Yugi did the same, removing the originals of the exact same belts that Yami had, while Joey offered the one he had been wearing, as well.

Constructing a harness was a bit more difficult, but after a few quick tests, they managed to discover a way to connect them all carefully and still leave them strong enough to fully support an injured person, should it come to that. The result was something like a rock climber's harness, with additional supports that they had created for the torso, so that Kaze's chest wound wouldn't suffer under too much pressure or movement.

The harness constructed, the only thing left was to lift Kaze onto the person carrying him and start moving. Yugi thought over the situation a moment, then sighed, turning to Joey. "I'm sorry to have to ask you again, but...you're the only person big enough to carry him here, and even then he's still taller than you. It might be kinda tough, but "

"I already told ya, Yug,'" Joey said firmly, "just tell me what to do, and I'll help the best I can."

Yugi nodded. "Alright, then. You'll have to kneel down so we can lift Kaze onto your back and fasten the harness to you both. It _should _be a little easier to carry him, but because of his height it might still be difficult."

"I can manage," the blonde answered, taking a few steps over to the unconscious teen nearby. "Whenever you're ready, let's go!"

"Thanks, Joey," Mokuba murmured softly, glancing up at the teen. "I owe you one..."

Yugi and Yami walked up behind the blonde as well, taking places at either side of the wounded Opposition leader, while Mokuba grabbed the makeshift harness and stood aside, waiting. Joey, seeing that they were all ready and in place, crouched down by the brown-haired teen's side so that he was low enough for the others to easily place the Blue Eyes into a good carrying position on his back. "All set," he called over his shoulder, waiting.

Yami nodded to his Lighter half, and the two bent down, carefully but quickly lifting their injured friend under his arms and shifting him towards Joey. Mokuba, thinking quickly, bundled the remains of the trench coat and placed it down as a softer surface for Kaze's injury to be better supported by, and Yugi and his darker half carefully rested the injured teen on Joey's back, arms hanging over the carrier's shoulders and making it almost look as though he was riding 'piggy-back.' Kaze's only response was a massive gasp of pain at the movement before falling silent again, though all of them were sure that if he had been conscious, he would have thrown a fit at having to be carried in such a way.

With Kaze in position, Mokuba moved forward quickly and began to buckle their makeshift harness, which formed a seat-like contraption so that Joey only had to _carry _the fallen Negative, not spend valuable time and energy holding him in place, as well. After a few moments of tightening the straps, Mokuba backed away, motioning to Joey that he was all set. Joey, nodding, hooked his hands underneath Kaze's knees (as the Negative was much taller and his feet would drag unless held up) and stood, wavering momentarily until he found his footing.

"Not so bad," Joey muttered, trying a few experimental steps to see how much the extra weight effected him. "I think I can keep up a walk. Maybe even a run."

"Just try not to run too fast, or you'll jar him around anyway. That harness isn't perfect, after all," Yugi warned, gathering up the remaining items with his yami.

"I'll do my best," the blonde answered, moving into a walk in the direction they had been taking. He attempted to turn his head to deliver a question to Yami, but found himself blindsighted on that side Kaze's head was flopped like a deadweight on one of his shoulders and prevented the turning of his own head and so he called the question loudly, instead. "How long do we have to keep this up?"

Yami considered momentarily, calculating their travel from before while at the same time double-checking the shields to make sure they were still in order they were, though they still drained him. "I would say....perhaps forty-five minutes more, at our old pace...but considering that we will be moving slower, and will have to stop periodically to allow you to rest and to check on Kaze...an hour and twenty minutes?" He shook his head. "A long time, at any rate. This will be a difficult trek."

Joey growled slightly. "Forget going slow," he argued. "I told you, I can keep up a fast pace like this. The sooner we _all _get outta here, the better." And, this said, he slid into a steady gait, covering ground at a decent pace while trying not to shake the wounded Blue Eyes he carried too much. Yugi and Yami sighed, exchanging momentary glances at Joey's stubborn ways, before going into a jog themselves, Mokuba already a few paces ahead of them.

Unfortunately, despite his endurance, the blonde had nowhere near the running skill that his opposite possessed, and after only ten minutes he had to slow down to a standard walk, panting slightly. He _was _strong, and Kaze _was _probably lighter than his True self, but it was still no easy task to carry a person close to the same weight as one's own self, and the teen reverted to a less-tiring pace quickly before he managed to burn out all his energy.

Yugi allowed his friend to continue walking for another ten minutes, then told him to halt and take a quick break, both so that he could rest up and that they could check on the opposite Kaiba. Joey didn't argue, panting slightly and slight beads of sweat dewing on his forehead, and seemed thankful for the rest. Kaze had not woken during the twenty minutes that they had been moving; indeed, he hadn't even moved, arms still draped over Joey's shoulders to aid with holding him in place and head resting heavily on the back of his shoulder. Yugi had been worried at this, and had carefully checked the chest injury as best as he could without removing the harness, only to discover that the makeshift bandages were soaking once again, and that the wound was still bleeding.

Frowning, the Hikari let Joey rest for about five minutes, then urged him to begin moving once again, anxious to get the Negative out of the Shadow Realm as fast as possible, as he was very weak. Nodding, Joey pushed himself back to his feet and started up his jogging gait again, thanking anybody he could think of for his years of street-fighting he'd learned there, at least, how to regain energy quickly in short rests, as it was doubtful anybody wanting to pick a fight would wait a decent amount of time to allow him his strength back. The others jogged along next to or behind him, urging him on, while Mokuba almost never tore his eyes from his dying Negative brother.

The somewhat fast gait went on for another ten minutes or so, until once again Joey was forced to slow down to a walk once more, panting heavily. It was during this transition that Yami blinked in surprise; he hadn't noticed it before, his mind having automatically thought of it as 'normal,' but Kaze's shield against the Shadows was still up. That was strange, the yami thought, eyebrows creasing slightly; when somebody was wounded, generally they would _drop _their shields, unless they were experienced...and why would _Kaze _have a shield anyway? He had never asked that question of the Opposition leader while he'd been _conscious,_ and now there was no asking the question at all, what with the situation. So instead the Pharaoh filed the question away for later, when the more concerning problems had been solved and all of their Scroll-hunting members' lives were safe.

This time, Joey was able to keep the walking pace up for seven minutes before Yugi urged him to take a break, regaining his strength and stamina for another large bulk of time. Joey sighed, but nodded, coming to a halt and wiping sweat from his forehead. His bangs were soaked and sticking to his skin, and he felt tired, but there was no way he was going to quit when a friend needed his help.

The group took a quick, six-minute break, resting quietly and once again checking up on Kaze his condition was still bad, but only a little worse than before, as he hadn't plummeted badly yet. Yami, however, noticed that the Shadows seemed eager to get at the two tired beings, namely Joey and Kaze, as they could sense that both were weaker than the average, healthy human. Indeed, they were swirling overhead like vultures, a soft hissing noise escaping them as they flitted past, waiting until one of the beings dropped from fatigue or lost their shield so that they could swoop down for the kill.

Angry, Yami shouted several warnings at them in Egyptian without even thinking about what he was saying, before turning back to his friends and giving a tired sigh. "Come on," he murmured, "let's get moving again before those _things _get any ideas." He indicated the shadows still flickering about above them, which caused both Mokuba and Yugi to shiver slightly. Joey gave them a look, grimaced, and pulled himself to his feet once more, taking a few slow steps before pushing himself into the same jogging gait again though admittedly, looking far wearier than the first two times he had done so.

Eight minutes later, he had to slow once again into a walk, unable to keep up the fast pace with his quickly depleting endurance. He was obviously beginning to slow, not even able to keep up the same amount of time as he had before, and Yugi hoped feverently that he would be able to hold out until they reached the barrier. Yami guessed that it was, with luck, a half hour away, but if they couldn't make it _that _far, Kaze would be lost.

Joey seemed to still have his stubbornness, however, because seven minutes later he was still walking, even though he looked like he was tiring. Indeed, it was possible that he would have continued forcing himself to go on, but for one small thing: Kaze had begun to wake up.

None of them had expected it in the least after all, with such a terrible wound, how on Earth could anybody wake at all? yet all of them snapped their heads around in surprise when Kaze began to mutter slightly, gasping heavily in pain and stirring a little from where he was being carried on Joey's back. Surprised, the blonde attempted to turn his head a little, towards his blindsighted side, just managing to see the Opposition leader's head begin to shift slightly as he slowly regained consciousness.

Stopping short, Joey gave a quick call to the others, though it was highly unnecessary; Yugi, Yami, and Mokuba were all paying just as much attention and were beginning to crowd a little closer, each looking rather surprised at the Negative regaining consciousness. Resisting the urge to shrug (he didn't want to injure Kaze any more than he already _was_) Joey tilted his head again slightly and spoke quietly, sounding a little relieved. "Wasn't expecting you to wake up, but it's nice to see you moving a little...we were getting worried."

Kaze's only response were a few short, painful breaths as he attempted to get oxygen into his system, but then he spoke, groaning a little. "Hurts..."

"It's okay!" Mokuba said, attempting to sound reassuring, though the worried tone in his voice said that he was failing miserably. "We're...we're trying to get you help...just hold on, big brother..."

The Blue Eyes twitched slightly at the title, though for the most part he remained deadweight, not having even lifted his head yet. After a few more moments, in which his pain was easily recognizable, he seemed to realize this as well and shifted again, forcing his head up from its resting place.

"Woah!" Joey yelped, a little startled, as the shifting on his back threw him off balance and he hastily moved to regain his footing. "Stop moving back there! Just relax or you're gonna kill yourself!"

"Yeah," Mokuba agreed, as Yugi and Yami nodded, the Hikari watching the whole situation anxiously. "Just let Joey do all the work, you've done enough. Please don't hurt yourself!"

The comments seemed to do exactly opposite of what they had been intended for, however. Instead of calming the Negative down, Kaze seemed to suddenly realize that he was being carried, and shifted more, attempting to pull himself up completely to stand on his own, wincing at the pain that it caused but trying hard to ignore it and muttering under his breath that he didn't need such care. Joey, startled, braced himself so that he did not topple over and injure the Opposition leader further, while the remaining three yelped in surprise and tried to coax and force him to relax and not strain himself.

Despite his protests, however, Kaze's efforts were weak, all of the energy his body could grasp hold of focusing on battling the bloody wound and raging infection. The Blue Eyes barely managed to raise himself a few inches from where he had rested before he gave a startled cry of pain, an intense wave of agony having shot through his chest once more, and with a tortured groan he flopped back to the support of Joey's back, having gone deadweight once more.

"I...I don't need...this...help," the Negative Seto managed to hiss through his teeth, jaws clenched in pain, before he went entirely limp, the shock of the pain from his wound having knocked him out cold once again.

Joey stood still for a good minute, blinking in surprise, before exhaling with exasperation. "Phew," he muttered, shaking his head, "that was close. I thought he was really gonna hurt himself there without meaning to."

Yami looked exasperated, as well. "_Must _Seto Kaiba be this stubborn in _any _Realm?" he asked the air, looking annoyed. "Why do they _all _refuse any help that it's _obvious _they need?" Yugi shrugged, not understanding himself, while Mokuba gave a sad sort of smile before it faded away, turning to watch his deathly pale brother once more.

Since they had already stopped, they paused to take a quick break, checking on Kaze after his rather unexpected fight against his own rescue, while allowing Joey to rest up and build up his strength. It seemed that Kaze had restarted the massive flow of bleeding once more, causing everyone's spirits to dampen considerably, and if they didn't get him out _very _soon, he was going to die without ever having made it to the real world again. Yami, determined to bring good news to the group, assured them that they were very close to the barrier now, and if they managed to keep up a good walk for about twenty minutes, they should have arrived there. Joey, determined to get there as quick as possible, broke into a run once again, hoping that the faster pace would bring the time left down considerably.

Joey was able to keep the fast pace for another seven minutes before he had to slow down once more; by now, his face was heavily damp, and he was panting hard, desiring a glass of water more than almost anything in the world. Still, he kept at it, knowing they were close, and with his friends encouraging him every step of the way, he knew, somehow, that he would be able to make it.

And then...at last, at long last, Yami told them to stop, a determined smile on his face as he nodded to the others. "We've made it," he said softly, glancing about at each member of the group. "Thanks to all of you, all of _us,_ with our quick thinking and teamwork...we've made it through this impossible task...we've made it to the barrier."

Mokuba jumped up and down excitedly, a few stray tears sliding down his cheeks as he felt the feeling of success burst through his heart. They were going to save his brother...he was going to live...they had _made it!_ Yugi looked pleased, a soft smile on his face as he glanced over at the gasping Kaze, while Joey, though still panting, gave his friend a wink and nodded, a determined grin on his face.

Yami nodded back to him, then turned to face outward, away from the radius that they had just escaped. "I will open a Shadow Realm gate, then," he said, stretching out his hands as he dipped, once more, into the powers of the Millennium Puzzle...and found it nearly empty.

"No!" he gasped, startled, as he attempted once more to pull together the magics to open the gate from the Shadow Realm; but there was almost nothing there, not enough magic to create even a hole the size of a pinhead, and he was shocked. "I can't believe it...I've drained my magic..."

"What's going on?" Mokuba asked, frowning worriedly. "How come we're not leaving? My...my brother...he needs help!"

"I can't get us out of here!" Yami hissed, attempting once again, with no success, to break through the Shadow Realm to the real world. "I don't have enough magic!" Nearly all of it had been wasted away on the shields, and the only reserves left that he had were those of his own soul material a choice that he disregarded immediately. That was how his Opposite had been driven crazy, and he had a feeling it would be _extremely _unwise to get himself Mad while trying to save several others' lives.

"You...can't...get us out?" the black-haired teen asked softly, whimpering a little and glancing over at his 'brother' once again. "We...we're stuck here?"

"That," Yami murmured softly, sighing as he finally gave up battering at the Shadow Realm barrier, "is exactly what I mean. We are trapped here."  
  
...

Kaeru concentrated on the magic he had used hundreds of times before, both true and imitation Rings glowing hotly with blue, fiery radiance they always took on when dealing with Shadow magic. Raising his hand, he made the same slight motion as he had before while opening their own portal to the Shadow Realm, and instantly, in pure silence, another nightmare black disc sliced open in the air in front of them.

Seeing the disc had successfully opened, all five members of the group Tristan, Téa, Ryou, Kawari, and Kaeru tensed, preparing themselves for the possible exit of a dangerous monster. Kaeru had not allowed his magic in the Ring to disperse and still held it at the ready, while Kawari had a hand raised to his sheath containing _Gin Hebi_ and Tristan's fists were clenched, ready to let fly one of his well known punches.

Nothing happened at first, and the portal simply sat there, as though waiting for something to pass through it; but then, without warning, something began to move inside of it. The Scroll hunting group couldn't see what it was at first it seemed to have some dark coloring in it that blended fairly well with the darkness of the Shadow portal but then, to their surprise, Mokuba popped out of the portal quickly, taking a deep breath when he reached the cool, calm morning air of the True Realm.

"Mokuba?!" Téa couldn't help but yelp, startled. "So it _was _out friends! I knew it! Are you okay, Mokuba?"

The black-haired boy looked startled at the sight of five of his friends gathered around the portal, blinking at the readiness each of them had, but then he nodded, turning back towards the portal to watch and looking heavily worried.

Ryou frowned. "Is something wrong?" he asked of the newest addition to their group, looking concerned.

Mokuba trembled a little and nodded. "You...you'll see in a minute," he whispered, still watching the portal anxiously. The others blinked in surprise, but at that moment somebody else began to slip through the portal towards them, and they focused their attention on it to see what exactly was worrying the poor younger Kaiba so much.

Joey was now striding through the portal, his head the first visible part of him as he exited slowly. At first they couldn't see what was wrong, but as more of Joey began to become visible, they could also see the limp head resting like a deadweight on his shoulder, the unconscious, unmoving form on his back a form that was very quickly evident as _Kaze._

Kawari and Kaeru gave identical sounds of dismay at the sight of their leader, obviously wounded, and moved forward quickly to help as Yugi and Yami exited the portal last and the tomb robber allowed it to close behind them. Ryou, Tristan, and Téa were not far behind, each asking the exact same question: "What _happened?!_"

"Got attacked," panted Joey he was obviously exhausted, sweat dripping down his face. "Kaze fought it off and got hurt...bad." The others frowned, but recognizing Joey's fatigue, hastily helped to unbuckle the makeshift belt harness and lift the wounded Kaze off of him, allowing him to sit down and take a much-needed rest. The Blue Eyes they stretched out carefully on the scruffy grass, laying him down flat to relieve the pressure on his wound, and each one of the group members grimaced heavily at the pain-filled gasps that squeezed their way from the wounded teen's throat. Kawari and Kaeru were more used to the situation, but still looked worried at the sight of the blood-soaked bandages wrapped around his chest, and exchanged troubled glances.

"Thanks," they heard suddenly, and Kaeru, blinking, turned to face Yami. The Pharaoh had currently taken control of his hikari's body, unable to sustain his temporary one at the moment, but he did look grateful. "I couldn't get out of there, didn't have any magic left. Thank you for opening the portal and allowing us out."

Kaeru shook his head. "Forget it. We have more pressing things to worry about at the moment," he growled, turning back to his leader. "What attacked him?"

"A Queen Bird," Yami answered, frowning. "I wasn't conscious when he sustained the wound, but considering how the bird attacks, I would guess the chest wound was caused by the talons...the other wounds he has were minor in comparison."

Kawari frowned. "How bad _is _the major wound?"

Yami grimaced. "Look for yourself," he said quietly. "We need to remove those bandages to check on it anyway...it isn't good at all."

Kaeru frowned as well, taking a few extra steps to reach Kaze's side. Mokuba was already bent next to his 'brother,' carefully trying to remove the makeshift bandages without causing him any more pain, and Téa and Ryou had moved forward to help him.

After several minutes, the bandages had been completely removed and pulled back, revealing the hideous, twisted wound once again. Ryou looked shocked at the size of the wound, while Téa looked disgusted and whirled around, clamping a hand over her mouth to try and keep herself from vomiting. Kawari and Kaeru's eyes widened at the sight of it as well, unsure of what could be done about it without any of the proper equipment or experienced people there.

Mokuba looked up at the two yami spirits almost pleadingly, looking afraid. "Can you guys...save him?" he asked softly, glancing at the gasping Kaze. "We worked so hard to get him here...I don't want all that to be for nothing..."

Kaeru grimaced. "I don't have any healing magic," he said, shaking his head. "The Ring is one of the more destructive Items." He glanced over at Yami. "What about you? That Puzzle of yours healed over in _our _Realm..." here he glanced at Kawari before turning back to the Pharaoh. "Think _you _have the magic it'll take?"

"If I do," Yami said, looking exasperated, "I don't know about it yet. And at any rate, Yugi discovered a way to heal _minds, _not _physical ailments._ I don't think I alone have the ability to heal that wound."

"Shit," Kaeru cursed, glancing over at his leader once again. Kaze's breathing was getting the slightest bit shallower, and he looked far too pale for his own good, causing the blue-gray in the tips of his fingers to stand out greatly. "We can't just let him _die, _the entire Negative Realm is relying on him!"

The Pharaoh sighed. "If you have any other suggestions, I'm well open to them," he replied. "I honestly have no idea what to do." He looked grim.

Téa watched the whole discussion with a heavy feeling beginning to grow in her heart, positive that the Negative in front of her was going to die within a matter of minutes. She was so focused on the situation itself, that it nearly made her jump out of her skin when her cell phone, of all things, began to ring; she'd had it replaced after her old one had been smashed at Battle City some time ago, but had totally forgotten that she had brought it with her. Startled, she considered ignoring it for the moment the situation was _far _too important for her to risk idle chatter from some family member but after the fourth time it began to ring persistently, she began to grow aggravated. Grabbing the coat Joey had discarded (it had been bloody from carrying the injured Kaze for so long) she wiped her own hands clean on it they had been stained when she had helped with the removal of the bandages and hastily grabbed the phone, checking the ID and blinking in surprise before hastily answering it.

The caller was Seto Kaiba.

"Kaiba?!" she spoke loudly, sounding surprised. "What are you calling my _cell _for?"

The reply sounded irritated. "Kawari's been ignoring that earring communicator of his," the True Kaiba snapped. "The...._other _Joey," he hissed, continuing, though Téa was sure that he had quickly changed the words he'd been about to say, "decided to try, on a hunch, the cell phone number _his _version of Téa used to use. Apparently," he added rather dryly, "it's the same number."

"Oh," Téa responded, blinking, rather at a loss for words. The situation rather confused her; here she could _hear _a perfectly healthy Seto Kaiba through her cell, yet at the same time she was staring at _another _one, lying nearly dead only a few feet away from her. "Um.."

"Is that my brother?!" Mokuba asked, staring intently at Téa as if asking the question. She nodded, and his voice trembled a little. "I'm...I'm glad _he's _safe, at least..."

"Was that Mokuba?" Seto asked sharply at nearly the same time over the phone, sounding annoyed as usual, but with a hint of confusion. "Was he _crying?_"

"Yes, and I don't blame him," Téa muttered over the phone, watching the others trying to brainstorm a way to save the Opposition leader. "Kaze was wounded really badly in the Shadow Realm...the others aren't sure they can save him..."

"_What?!_" Téa could hear the replies of not only Kaiba, but Saguru in the background, as well. _It must be on speakerphone or something over there,_ she found herself thinking vaguely, and then grew annoyed with herself at thinking such an unimportant thought at a time like this. "What do you _mean _they can't save him?!"

"They don't know how, and they can't think of any magic to heal with!" Téa responded, sounding worried. "It's a really bad wound, he must have been gored right in the chest or something...he's lost a lot of blood, from that injury as well as a few others, and he's so pale...they don't know if he'll make it, but as it stands he probably won't..." Téa had to stop, as her own throat was painfully tight now at the thought of a friend they had only _just _made dying so soon.

"We were right," Kaiba muttered on the other side end, but now he sounded worried. He was probably talking to Saguru, Téa mused. "That chest pain _was _the result of a wound on Kaze's part..."

"Yeah," Saguru muttered as well...his voice was a little louder, so he sounded closer. "Good luck, Téa. Tell the others to try anything they can. The Negative Realm can _not _afford to lose Kaze or we're _all _dead."

"Right," the girl responded shakily, nodding even though they could not see her. "I'll deliver the message. I'll....call you back when we figure out what happens," she offered, not knowing what else to do.

"Good...okay, go help them out now, hurry " Téa was just about to cut the conversation, when she heard Kaiba's sudden yell.

"HOLD IT! DON'T HANG UP!"

Startled, having rarely heard the True Realm CEO yell like that, Téa placed the cell phone back to her ear, startled. "Wh...what?"

"I just realized something. Hurry, put me on the phone with one of the spirits!" Kaiba ordered, voice urgent. Still surprised, Téa quickly got up and trotted over to Yami, the closest of the two spiritual beings, holding out the cell phone. "Yami...it's Kaiba...I think he has an idea of how to help..."

Yami blinked a little, just as surprised as Téa was at the idea of Kaiba ready to talk to even _him _to help, but then again it _was _his Opposite and he supposed the whole situation seemed a lot more urgent on _his _side. Frowning, he took the cell phone offered to him and held it to his ear, speaking curtly. "Yes?"

"The Scrolls. Do you have all the Scrolls?"

The ancient ruler couldn't _believe _him. His own Opposite dying and he decided to ask if they had gotten the Scrolls at a time like _this?_

"Are you _crazy_ Kaiba?! How, by Ra, can you ask about those stupid Scrolls _now?_ They're not _important _right now, and "

"You idiot!" Kaiba hissed back, even less polite than he usually was from impatience. "One of those Scrolls had healing spells, remember?! _You _announced the discovery yourself, that there was one healing spell that could revive anybody from any_thing _but death!"

Yami's world seemed to slow down for a moment in disbelief and shock. Kaiba, of all people, the one who denied every magical existence, the one who refused to believe his own heritage, was the first person to realize the incredible use of the Scrolls beyond that of the Sealing spells. His mind went on to recognize the truth in the company-owning teen's words, before time sped up again and a solution seemed suddenly in sight.

"Perfect, Kaiba!" the Pharaoh yelled into the cell phone, before shoving it back at a surprised Téa and turning towards where he had tossed the bundle of weaponry and Scrolls that he and Yugi had been alternately carrying since Kaze had first been wounded.

"What is it, Pharaoh?" Kaeru asked, a little surprised at the sudden speed Yami seemed to have gained. "Something useful?"

"More than that, Kaeru," the ancient ruler said, as he began to shift through the pile of Scrolls, searching for the one he wanted. "Kaiba, of all people, has just given us an answer to this problem, if we can find it in time."

Kaeru blinked. "Are you serious?!"

"Would I lie, _especially _about something like this?" Yami shot back, tossing aside the Scrolls of Hatred and Passion quickly as he searched. His hand clasped around the Scroll he was looking for, and he stood triumphantly, holding it out in his hands. "Perfect! The Scroll of Desire. It had healing spells, remember? Now if I can just find the right one..."

Kaeru's eyes widened as he caught onto the plan, and he grinned suddenly, while Mokuba looked considerably cheered. "Kaze's gonna live! I knew my brother could help!"

Yami, meanwhile, had carefully yet quickly unrolled the Scroll of Desire, and was now skimming over the various types of healing spells, searching for the one he had seen before. After a few moments of precious time, he spotted it, and with a look of success, headed quickly over near the wounded Kaze and showed it to his fellow yami spirit. Kaeru eyed the spell as if it were pure gold, reading over the promise that the spell would heal anybody near death, and hoped that the Blue Eyes had that much time left for them to complete the magic. He was going fast, they had all noted grimly; now it was simply a race against time.

Yami gave a hiss of sudden dismay, frowning as he read over the details of the spell. Kaeru gave him a look as if to ask, "What's the matter?" and the former ruler, grimacing heavily, indicated a section of the Scroll and spoke.

"We need _three _power sources," he muttered softly, shaking his head. "I'm one...though admittedly a weaker one, my magic is only _just _starting to come back...and you're the second. We don't have a third source of magic, and because of that, we can't complete the spell." He looked grim.

Kaeru blinked, then frowned, as though considering something in his mind. After several moments, he finally sighed and spoke, though his voice was low. "Kaze," he murmured softly, "has his own source."

Yami looked surprised. "What?"

"Kaze has his own Egyptian source, similar to ours," Kaeru said once more. "We can draw it out and use it, if we have to...and obviously, we _will _have to."

The Pharaoh looked shocked. "But how can he "

"_Later, _Yami," Kaeru hissed, voice urgent as he glanced around at the others nobody else besides Kawari, near his own yami, seemed to have heard what the tomb robber had said. "We need to help Kaze _now._ Kaze can, and probably will, explain later, if you ask him."

The former ancient ruler nodded. "Very well," he agreed. "Shall we perform the spell, then?" he added, lifting the Scroll once more.

Kaeru nodded, turning momentarily to his hikari. "I'll need to take control for this, aibou," he said, even as his temporary body faded out of existence. Kawari nodded and patiently waited until his mind was gently pushed aside, and then Kaeru stood in his place, Ring glowing once more in preparation.

Yami's Puzzle, though still a little weak from the entire ordeal in the Shadow Realm, began to glow as well with a golden light, and between the two they managed to draw out Kaze's source as well, pooling it into their combined reserves. After a few moments of allowing their magic to build, the two slowly began to chant the verses that made up the spell, speaking phrases in the Ancient language that no others there could understand. Despite that, each and every remaining Scroll hunter there stared anxiously at the two spirits and the wounded one at their feet, waiting to see if something would happen...if a life would be saved, or if it would be lost.

At first, nothing _did _happen, and Kaeru and Yami finished their chanting with a flourish, tearing their eyes away from the Scroll to stare down at their fallen friend urgently. A gaping, twisted wound still remained in his chest, which was barely rising and falling now in the failing struggle for breath. Frowning worriedly, the two glanced back at the Scroll, but they had performed everything perfectly...what on _Earth _could have been going wrong?

And then, as if it had caught up to the chanting of the spell, the Scroll of Desire suddenly flashed, a small burst of wind seeming to explode from it as it absorbed all the energy used in the spell and began to do it's work. The smaller scars, bruises, and wounds went first, the slashes on the Blue Eyes' arms and legs hissing and disappearing in small wisps of mist, before the magic spread to the worst wound of them all. The seven remaining watched in awe as the blood pooled around Kaze's chest began to trickle back up towards the wound, melding to reform skin, which stretched itself over bones that replaced themselves with loud _cracks_. The ribcage completely reconnected itself, once again protecting the healed organs and innards that had slipped themselves quietly back together. At last, with a final flash from the Scroll, the skin finished knitting itself back together, leaving nothing behind but a network of scars that were the only remains to speak of the terrible wound that had been there only moments earlier.

The Scroll of Desire snapped itself neatly back together in Yami's hands and sat there innocently, as though it had never healed anybody so close to death before, while the spirit, along with everybody else, stared in surprise at the amazing display that they had just seen. Yet, despite the healing that the injured teen had just undergone, Kaze did not wake up.

Frowning, the Scroll hunters took a few steps forward towards the prone figure without even realizing it, staring anxiously at the Blue Eyes as though hoping he was simply playing some joke on them. Mokuba, looking worried, murmured softly, "We weren't too late...were we?"  
Yami frowned, giving the teen a sad look as he separated from his hikari, Kaeru releasing Kawari's mind as well. "I'm sorry Mokuba...we may have healed the body while the soul was departing, and " but he froze suddenly, whipping his head around to stare at the Opposition leader on a sudden hunch, watching intently.

There was silence for several seconds, in which nobody moved or made a sound...and then, to everyone's delighted surprise, Kaze's eyes snapped open.

A cheer went up almost instantly from everyone in the group, but Kaze didn't appear to hear them; he had rolled over on his side, gasping and choking, and began to cough hard, spilling blood to the ground as he did so it was the remains of what had still been lodged in his throat. After several minutes he finally quieted and flopped tiredly onto his back once more, panting slightly with his eyes half-closed, but undoubtedly alive.

"What..." he began slowly, his voice raspy. "What the _hell_ happened?"

All nine of the fellow Scroll hunters stared down at him for a minute, most grinning from ear to ear at seeing him alive (Kaeru and Kawari smirked) and then, at the same time, all of them burst out speaking, beginning to tell him the whole tale from beginning to end in one jumbled mess.

Kaze winced at the massive headache he was beginning to get, and his mood much resembled that of his opposite's in his weariness. Grimacing, he finally snapped angrily, "Everybody _shut up. _Only _one _person tell me....you go ahead, Mokuba..." Grinning a little at seeing his 'adopted brother' alive, the younger Kaiba began to explain the whole thing in detail, pausing only for confirmation from Joey, Yugi, or Yami on a few minor things.

Kaze listened patiently to the story, unable to do much else at the moment, too weak to do anything but lay there quietly. After the story had been told, however, he nodded quietly and turned his head towards his fellow group members. "Thanks," he murmured slowly. "I'd be dead if it wasn't for you. I owe you all."

Yugi nodded. "Of course we'd help you!" he answered cheerfully, his yami nodding next to him, while Joey grinned and waved it off with a quick, "Forget about it."

Sighing, the Negative pulled himself to a sit slowly, feeling a little dizzy he was still very tired but otherwise able to manage without much trouble. Thinking suddenly, he asked, "what happened to the center of this whole mission?"

"Huh?" Mokuba asked from his side, having moved forward hastily when his brother sat up but realizing the Negative needed no help. "What do you mean?"

"The Scroll," the Opposition leader responded slowly. "Do we still have it? And...did it have the final clue?"

Yami responded by heading back to the pile of Scrolls that they had left nearby and pulling free their latest acquisition. "It's still here," he assured, unrolling it as he did so....and pulling free the _final clue._ "And the last verse _was _in the Scroll of Death."

"How ironic," the Blue Eyes commented dryly. "I nearly die to get the Scroll of Death." He snorted, then rather abruptly tried to stand.

"Woah!" Tristan yelped in surprise, leaping forward hastily as Kaze swayed, unsteady on his feet. He grabbed the taller teen's arm and steadied him, while Joey, well rested by now and the only other one there closest to the Negative Seto's height, offered support from the other side. Kaze looked slightly disgruntled at having to be helped with such a simple thing as _standing,_ but allowed them to swing his arms around their shoulders to keep him upright.

Kawari chuckled. "I think you're sitting the next Scroll out, Kaze," he said, smirking a little. "A Kuriboh probably has more fight in it than you do right now." Kaze growled at the comment, but after nearly mistepping _with _support from Joey and Tristan, he admitted his current weaknesses and allowed their help without complaining.

"We should probably all head back to the mansion," Yugi suggested, thinking a little. "We can meet up with Kaiba and Saguru, Kaze can get some rest there, and we can share the final clue with them. Besides," he added, as an unnaturally chill wind gusted past and sent his blonde bangs flipping in the wind, "it looks like a storm's going to come soon anyway, and we should probably get inside."

Joey blinked up at the sky from where he was standing, helping the Negative Kaiba stand. "You're right," he admitted, frowning at the unusual dark, almost black clouds that were obstructing the beautiful remnants of the sunrise, now. "I'd like to go back home and change first, though," he added. "I'm covered in blood." He grimaced a little.

Yugi nodded; his own sleeves were a little bloody from where he had helped change bandages. "Yeah, that's true. Same here."

Kaze frowned. "Sorry about that..."

"Hey, it wasn't your fault!" Yugi argued. "It wasn't something you could control, after all." Kaze sighed, but nodded in agreement.

Téa snapped her fingers. "I've got an idea," she said calmly, grinning a little. "I'll go get the car we parked not too far from here, right guys?" Tristan, Ryou, Kawari, and Kaeru nodded, and she continued. "I'll pull up here, and give Joey and Yugi rides to their houses. I can also drive Kaze and Mokuba to the mansion, so Mokuba can get a change of clothes too, and Kaze can rest. The rest of you can walk back, and we'll start up the Scroll hunt again in about an hour. Sound good?" The others nodded, and she trotted off towards the car, hair blown by another unnaturally strong, chill wind and causing her to stumble sideways a pace before she caught her balance.

Ten minutes later, she returned with the 'borrowed' car, and Kaze was helped over to it, slipping into the back seat and relaxing into it slightly as he got a chance to rest. Mokuba sat next to him in the middle back seat, while Yugi sat on the other side and Joey took the front (Yami had returned to his soul room to make the transport easier). With a final wave, the brown-haired girl drove off and the others began the hour-long trek back to the mansion, carrying with them a bundle of knives and six mysterious Scrolls, wondering just how strange-and difficult the final Scroll and its Challenge would be.

The race against time... _for _Time... was on.  
  
...

HCG: AAAND...that's a wrap! For this chapter, anyway. Rather short for me, once again (21 pages of story) but I was actually expecting this one to not have a lot to it, so...[shrug] It all works out!

Kawari: Fortunately for you. Otherwise you'd be charred Authoress on a stick.

HCG: Yeah, I know. See? See?! He lived! Your favorite resistance leader's alive, so don't kill me, for pete's sake! And no getting mad at me for any medical mistakes, like I said. I enjoy living. I really do.

Kawari: [rolls eyes]

HCG: [sweatdrop] ANYway. Shall I get onto answering the reviews? Yes, but first, **A BIG NOTE.** A few of you lately have been complaining about my reviewer responses. I won't say names, but you know who you are. Now, here's the deal. I'm sorry if I don't respond to your review, but you know what? There are a lot of you, and I'm not wasting valuable space on my computer and time in my life to respond to some of the junk some of you say. If you have a question, I'll answer it. If you have a worthwhile comment, I'll respond to it. But if you say nothing, I won't either, and **_I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOU COMPLAINING ABOUT IT._** I do this on my own time for your amusement, people. It takes me several hours to get through you all, and I don't want you bitching because I spend _my _valuable time answering _you _guys when **I DON'T HAVE TO. **The same goes for if I've ANSWERED your question already via email and don't want to repeat myself; I'm not babying any of you, nor am I trying to treat you as less of a person. Finally, my responses are NOT favoritism. I don't answer the people I like the best. I answer if a person had something interesting to say. So, sorry if this note seems rude, sorry if I offended you, but that little message needs to be heard, or I'm going to drop responses altogether, got it? Good.

Thunder Pichu Why, look, another Kawari fan. Heh heh heh. Actually, though, I have to thank you for noticing that he's a HUMAN character, not a super-human, unbelievable, shallow thing. I've put a lot of work into Kawari's character and I'm glad he has some depth to him. You actually have all the NR Soundtrack songs? Heh, that's interesting...that means you must have seen my CD cover somewhere.... Yes, I do agree with you that there's too many characters in the story, which is something I dislike. I'd rather work with only a few, like I did in STL. Unfortunately, _all _the characters play some purpose in NC, for reasons that have already been seen, as well as have yet _to _be seen, and so I can't take any of them out. [siiiiigh] It's annoying, but I'll try to do my best with it. Oh, and thanks for the belated B-day wish.

Silver Dragon Gold Dragon Yes, that's exactly my point. I just don't understand how Téa can run around, dance like mad, and escape death/soulessness/other random evil things in all these high heels and platforms. And yes, I do also wonder how she beat Johnny Stepps...and he kept tripping her and stuff too, didn't he? Wow, dancing AND dodging AND landing suddenly. I wish I had her skill with shoes.

Sylvia Viridian Heh, you think _this _fic is depressing? Wait until I get some of my _other _totally-NR-centered fics out...you'll be bawling and searching for any sort of sugar to get your spirits up, XD. I thank you, however, for the comments. Bakura being protective _isn't _as much of a shocker? Hmm, well, if you're basing that off of a lot of those "Bakura has a Change of Heart (no pun intended)" fics, then yeah, I suppose so. But he's never been nice to Ryou from the moment the two met up, eh? I bet I can safely say _that, _right? And I'm pleased I can help your Author's Instinct get some training, heh heh.

Silver Dragon, Iron Claws [gives DWyrm cough drops] Hope that one gets better...anyway, I love sword fights too (obviously) Kawari dirk fighting kicks arse! Meh heh heh! And thanks also for the belated B-day wishes!

sonicshadowfreak Will Bakura become good in this story? Sure. When hell freezes over. Sorry, but it's not _really _in Bakura's nature to suddenly become good because there's another guy just like him who is. If, and this is stretching it a little, he is, say, influenced by the Kawari/Kaeru team and how well they get along, he _still _wouldn't change immediately; it would take some time. Bakura doesn't have the magical ability of instant personality change, and it takes some time to erase habits that are several millennia old. Oh lord, you gave him a _Platinum Flamethrower? _Are you MAD? [watches him burn the crap outta all HCG's story notes and doodles] Aaagh! NOOOOO!

Ohime-Yukigi Fifth time rereading? That's a lot. And this is a long fic too. 311 and 1/2 pages, size 12 font. And it isn't done yet. Oh, and I've read the first two chapters of your fic (that's all I've had time for of late) but I thought it was very good so far; it's interesting the similarities we've had, while at the same time both having unique, different twists. I'll have to get back to it when I get the chance. Don't forget the disclaimer, though.

Sakura30 Awww...[gives Little Yugi a hug] Cuuute...ooh, cast torture...[cackles evilly and rubs her hands together] I'll have to take up the offer someday...

LoneWolf16 Aw, I've done that...reviewed the wrong chapters, had my reviews cut short because using the wrong symbols, you name it, I've done it. I didn't even notice, XD. So no problem. Heh, yeah, I myself liked the idea of Saguru calling Kaze "boss." He _is _loyal ([cough] a loyal ikkle puppy, but don't let either Kaze or Saguru hear that [cough]) and in more ways than one; when Kaze is busy looking out for everybody else but himself, Saguru's making sure Kaze's looked out for as well. [nodnod] He's a good second, he is he is. Yes, I have been forcing poor Kawari to go through lots of mazes of late, haven't I? I'm so mean. There shouldn't be any more for now...unless I throw this LABYRINTH WALL CARD at him and....er, on second thought, I don't think I will because I like having my heart in my chest. To be more serious though, Kawari probably WOULD try to take his yami's advice, but can you blame him for fearing mazes? He was stuck in one for 19 months and then it nearly killed him, I'd probably be a basket case if I had to put up with that. Then again, I don't think I woulda made it as long as he did, but...eh... Yes, Yami is noble, self-sacrificing, and also stupid. Yes, you'd think being the King of Games would have made him think of that, but then again, I suppose he also didn't have to lead three extra people through a currently agitated Shadow Realm that's trying to overflow at the same time. [shrug] Oooh, smart you, did you catch the hints at the beginning of the big bang in this chapter? [grin] Let's see if you did...Yes, Custos is a much more likable fellow. And both he and Kanshinin are mortal, but not in the same sense as, say, Yugi or Kawari is. They have...drawn out lives, we'll say, for simplicity; they're on a different level, not quite spirits (I mean, as long as their items aren't destroyed or their purpose finished, I suppose theoretically Yami or Kaeru could live forever, right?) but not exactly limited, 100 years max mortals. Yes, he has traveled to other Realms before, you'll understand why at the end of the fic Um....road trip...random… I agree with you, for all Téa's claims of training for dancing, she never does dance. And I think you have no idea how hard it is to get some sort of grace/dance challenge in the SHADOW REALM of all places...it took me ages to come up with that basic idea, and I still don't' think it was that good. XD, music of the Shadows...didn't you hear, there's a Shadow Realm Soundtrack coming out soon. [snicker]

Okay, now the Kawari sword battle stuff that you mentioned is something that I've been considering for a while, and I think you just misunderstood what I wrote. When I said that the blade's edge was cutting into Kawari's palm, I didn't mean that he was holding it with the serrated edge facing INTO his palm. The flat of the blade was. However, (and I suppose you COULD experiment with this, but be careful [sweatdrop]) if you take something like a knife, hold the flat of it in your palm, and then press and put a lot of pressure into it, the serrated edge(s) would eventually reach a point where they're rubbing up against your skin and could cut you. Now consider that this was happing to Kawari while something a good three times stronger than him was smashing with full force at his little bitty _Gin Hebi._ This will definitely ensure that the pressure is so great that the edge cuts into his hand even if the flat IS what he's using to block. And yes, for most blades you DO use the forte (the thick base of the blade) to block, but also keep in mind that the European dirk was originally created for DEFENSE. Which means it is a very stout blade that can take a lot of damage without actually being broken. Learning to have a good defense can allow you to get a stunning attack. The dirk transferred from a defensive blade to a defense-and-speed blade. The best other example I can give of this is _Rurouni Kenshin_'s Aoshi and his blade style (see vol. 4 if you haven't, or watch the show). Although it's a Japanese blade, his style has the same basic idea. And yes, like you said, it is _very _stupid to cross blade with blade, you damage your weapon that way. Did that, perhaps, clear things up for you? I think you may have just miss-read that section of the battle.

WOW, that was a loooong review response. But then again, you leave long reviews. [nods] Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter…don't get TOO nitpicky about my medical messups, eh heh… See ya!

Seeky L. H. Wolf No, I'm afraid I don't know what "oy vey" means. I did at one point, but I've forgotten. It's something a friend of mine used to say all the time, and I unconsciously adopted it into my own speech patterns, which then translated to my writing. I haven't offended you, have I? Kawari's your one true love, eh? You've got massive competition, you know. Hey, you know what's funny? When I first got your review, I didn't get the "No Dead Piro Days" comment at all....but now I do! Yay me! XD

silvermuse89 You think the NR Challenges are harder? That depends on how you look at it. Perhaps from the perspective of somebody who DOESN'T fight a lot, it WOULD seem unfair, but Kawari gets into brawls on a regular basis and it probably didn't seem as unfair to him as it would to you. He probably hated Ryou's Challenge more; now THAT, to him, was unfair. And part of Ryou's Challenge was not only get them through the maze, but to keep Kawari going through it the whole time as well. Custos is nice, but he's also smart, and knew that would be a big Challenge for Ryou. As for Téa's Challenge...I can tell you right now, I woulda been swiss cheese. I suck at dancing. It takes somebody with great skill to pull of something like that. As for my battle scenes, thank you! A lot of people seem to like them. _Rurouni Kenshin,_ I haven't been able to see the anime but I've got all the manga volumes that have come out so far (in English, anyway...) and they ARE good. The Kyoto arc? I think that's starting up soon in the manga, so I can't wait to read it, now. You want more card duels? Well, there probably won't be any more in THIS fic, other than ones mentioned in passing...I've got all the notes set up, and there's only three chapters left to this fic before it's over, so....however, I'll take into consideration that duels are desired. Perhaps I can fit one in later, or maybe have a separate story altogether for them (a friend of mine did request a card tourney with the NR's involved in it...). How is Custos a mortal? I would suggest going up to **LoneWolf16's **review response and reading what I already wrote there about him. And thank you for the B-day wishes. Good luck on your Global essays, heh heh...

Asiu Unmei most likely isn't consoled, although I wouldn't know...by now he's back with WSJ again. Actually, for a time I had both Unmei AND Chiot, although Chiot wasn't very useful as far as getting a writing mood...mostly he just got in the way, so I sent him back to help out WSJ. I just kept him out of her hair long enough for her to write without any argument from him, heh heh. So now you know what's up with Kaze; satisfied? I should hope so. He lives! [mysterious voice] Many things travel through the thought/mind link...but you'll see later, in a chapter or two...[grin] XD, Kawaii-kun...don't let Kawari hear you calling him that...[snicker] Yes, Yami Bakura is one of my fave characters as well, although I'm much more protective of MY KAWARI than I am a fan of Yami B, so if he starts bugging my char...oooh, he's gonna GET it. [cracks knuckles and pulls out Authoress Pen version 2.0 warningly] Custos is Latin, it _also _means Guardian, just like Kanshinin does in Japanese. And to answer your other question, Kanshinin's father was Custos' brother; Custos and his brother served as the Guardians for the Keeper-only-knows how long, and Custos' brother passed away recently ("recently being sometime in the past 400 years or so, XD). Custos is due to pass on soon as well, at which point somebody else'll take over his job for him. Kawari and Kaeru ARE competitive, but keep in mind that Kawari IS Kaeru's reincarnate; as my friend put it, it's Kaeru and 'Little Kaeru' (odd, but somehow it makes sense…) XD, the "...are all these Negatives just a little bit crazy?" line has to be one of my faves in that chapter, it just makes SENSE somehow. Oh yes, I agree that Anzu gets bashed too much. Admittedly she's not my fave character, but come on, she's a lot better than the dub makes her out to be! She's not all friendshippy in the manga, she's _cool _in the manga. So yeah, I'm glad I could give her a good part. A great uncle in Vietnam? Yeah, I've heard stories like that too. Can you imagine what shape half these NR's are gonna be in by the time this war gives up? Thanks for the B-day wishes, also. A Negative me? Yeah, I've thought about what that'd be like. Terrible writer, much more of a temper, very outgoing, crappy in school and great in physical activity and sports. WHOO, that reply was long! Sorry it scatters around so much…

Liviania Ooh, you're learning blade throwing? Lucky. I got my friend Alex to tell me about some blade throwing techniques, but I've never gotten to try it, myself...[pout]

Aitwo [sweatdrop] Something tells me I don't wanna know how Yuugi "asks" things...er, but I'm glad you've gotten past the cruel-ness and got to see what happened to Kaze...hope you enjoyed!

Oracle Mizuno OOOH, flags! Ooh, noisemakers! Aw, come on Kawari, get into the belated birthday and updating spirit!

Kawari:....rather not, thanks...

HCG: [annoyed look] you are such a pain.

Windswift Ah yes, Kaiba usually is the genius, but Saguru's been around Kaibas so long he can _think _like one! [gasp] Oh, the strangeness of it all! Yes, Bakura decided it was high time he got his entrance into the story again, but unfortunately...he has craptacular timing...[shakes head] Yes, Rurouni Kenshin is an _excellent _sword fighting source! As I said before to another reviewer, Aoshi and his style has the same basics that Kawari's style does...the idea of a short, controlling blade that is made for defense seizing control of the whole battle. [nodnod] Very good! Thanks for the B-day wishes. Enjoyed this, I hope? See ya!

NeoChaosCrystal You wouldn't get between Kawari and the exit to a maze, but you WILL lock him in a closet. [raises eyebrow] I dunno, that seemed pretty not-smart to me...XD, everybody's pitying Kawari after this fic...strange. He sure ain't happy. Kawari doesn't much like pity. Er, I wouldn't suggest capturing any NR, but if you had to choose one I'd say Kaze or Saguru, both are a lot more laid back (just as long as you give Kaze his coffee...) Anyway, did you enjoy? I hope so...

Nachzes-Black Rider No, I didn't get the apology email, but that's okay. I noticed that you took down the theme songs that concerned me, so I'm totally fine with it now. And stop groveling, I hate when people do that.

bakurakrazie No, I didn't muse-nap. WSJ asked me to take Unmei and Chiot off her hands for her because she had too many muses, and I was more than happy to oblige. I like Unmei's pony-tail though....[drool]....

Wingleader Sora Jade I didn't mind looking after Unmei for ya. Had fun in Mexico, right? Didn't drink the water? XD. Sorry to hear about the bootleg Yu-Gi-Oh cards though...that's a bummer. I enjoyed playing with Unmei's hair, if it's any consolation (though...I doubt it...). Yes, I LOVE evil cliffies, but only when _I'm _the one writing them, heh heh heh. Yes, as I said before, Téa's Challenge was exceedingly difficult to come up with...her strength was obvious, it was dancing, but HOW can you get a person to dance in the Shadow Realm? SRDDR MONSTER TOURNEY! XDXDXD. Hey, do you think I'd LEAVE Kawari with a busted arm? He needs it for later in the fic....you'll see why. [evil grin] And yes, the poor guy hated the maze with a passion, but it's not like you can blame him. And Bakura better watch it or he WILL get double teamed by Kawari and Unmei, and BOY will it be PAINFUL then. [nods] Anyway. I hope you're satisfied with Kaze living...[sweatdrop] see, I wouldn't kill him, just make him suffer a little...[whistles] Oh, and I've read your latest chapter, but if I don't review any time soon, I'm sorry. I don't have enough time to… SorrySorry!

Daricio What could have Kaeru so tired that he's resting? Hey, remember he IS still a person. He may be a spirit, but he DOES need to rest, even though he probably doesn't have to as much as a mortal does. [shrugs] What language does the Dark Magician speak? I'm assuming Egyptian also (if you go by what I made up) although it would probably understand a few phrases in Japanese too, since Yugi uses it so much. Yup, I had all the Bakuras purposely go after the Scroll of Fate...just a fun little random thing that I tossed in as a connection...though no Fate herself. I agree, if it was ME I'd go on Challenges in my sneakers, jeans and a T-shirt, but Téa...is not like most normal people, I guess. Hey, she's the one who decided to go roughing it during Duelist Kingdom in a pair of high heeled boots and a mini skirt. [shrugs] I overused the word "Gracefulness"? Hm...I didn't have my thesaurus with me at the time...and my internet had been screwing up because my computer is turning into a piece of junk, but...I'll have to make sure to keep an eye out for things like that, thanks. Nobody ever kills the bishies? I wouldn't say that's _quite _true, I did kill three main characters in my last story [raises eyebrow] Nearly four, if you count Kawari.

Now to the more serious stuff from your review. Firstly, I say I own the Negative Realm and all related ideas and theories, because, I came up with them. I have no problem if somebody else has their own ideas about alternate Realms and such, but I don't like it if somebody basically copies the NR or one of my highly detailed theories to a dime and tries to pass it off as _theirs. _A LOT of Realm stories that I've seen of late are based off mine, with very few exceptions (many people ask me for permission, THAT I know). As for getting mad about the Realm Guardian story that you mentioned as an example of my "over possessive ness," well, do try to see it from my side as well. Not even a _week _after a person reviewed for my story, they write their own Realm story with a few paragraphs in it that practically were mirror reflections of my own, with few exceptions. I may have overreacted a little, but I worked HARD on these Realm stories and theories, and I don't want somebody to pass them off as _theirs _without working for it, because that just _isn't fair. _As for you not getting a response to your last review...I believe I sent an email to you about this also, but if you didn't get that, here's the shortened version: I had thought that I had explained all your questions from the previous review in an IM, so I didn't want to re-type everything again when I thought you had already gotten the answers. It wasn't that I was trying to play favorites or look at one person as a 'bigger fan,' it's that I was under the impression I had answered your questions already, while I _hadn't _answered Ebony Kuroneko's and commented on HER review. And finally, I am _not _trying to think less of you or belittle you. Questions _are _good and I don't _care _how many you ask because I like answering them. So I'm sorry if you misunderstood or misinterpreted what I was saying (or more likely, what I _didn't _say) but I had no intent for it to come off the way you took it.

trefenwyd12 You want me to add _more _Kawari angst? Well, I would, but I like staying alive and I'm sure Kawari would _kill _me if I wrote more. I had to hide in a box for a week after I posted CVP, and that was pretty mild. Bring Bakura out more often because you like him showing up and being a bastard? O...kay...more angst and more Bakura. If I suddenly stop posting any time soon, it's because all my characters have killed me [grimace]

crazydominodragongirl Yeah, the Change of Heart didn't like him. The NR Change of Heart can be rather snooty. XD. It won't respect anybody who doesn't deserve it. On the flip side, anybody it thinks is worth protecting, it'll guard to the end. Yes, I enjoy torturing Kawari. Some days I think I created him for that purpose. I'm evil. w00t. [sweatdrop]

SugarHighNeko Ooh, gifts! [cheerfully looks at all the tracking devices on her muses, and then smirks evilly and puts the steel box in the center of the room as a warning for misbehaving muses] Thanks for the gifts, they'll be useful...oh, don't be jealous, there's nothing to be jealous of!

Ebony Kuroneko Ooh, say thanks to Nozomi for shutting Bakura up. No laughing at Kawari for his fears! The poor guy doesn't deserve that...sometimes...[sweatdrop] Yes, Kawari's gonna need billions of dollars' worth in therapy by the time we're done with him... NCC better have a nice amount of cash stored away...[sweatdrops again] Ooh, my Kaze's back! [glomps...spills his and hides behind Kawari so Kaze doesn't kill her] Er...Small Troubles is about half way done, if I ever get into a comical mood I'll keep working on it...[cough] So...yeah.

HCG: And that's it for the review responses! Hell there are a lot of ya....[falls over, exhausted] Anyway...[curls up with her _Reshef of Destruction_ Yu-Gi-Oh game and starts trying to duel her way through it, since she's had NO time to play it since the game came OUT] Must...find...Millennium Items!

Kawari: Psycho...

HCG: MUST...FIND...RING! BWAHAHAHAHA!

Kaeru: [dry look] No kidding...

HCG: MUST FIND THEM ALL! THEN I'M GONNA KICK PEGSY'S ARSE!

Kaze: [siiigh] [shakes head]

HCG: [gets beaten by some random guy on the street] .......NOOOOOOOOOO! EVIILLLL! WHY CAN'T I WIN, KAZE?!

Kaze: [dryly] It would help if your deck had a _theme_...

HCG: [gape] Then you play, you know how to! [shoves game at Kaze]

Kaze: [blink] [totally beats the game in about five minutes] [hands game back to HCG] That wasn't that hard...

HCG: [jaw drops] No faiiiiiiir.....

Kaze: [siiigh]

HCG: Anyway...I'll update next when I can, folks...there's only about three chapters left to write, and then this fic is _over..._[sniff] Until then, review, see ya, and KARMA-NESS!


End file.
